Shades Of Grey
by On Dark Wings
Summary: Megatron's greatest failure was in the hands of the Autobots. Scorned and broken, Starscream vows to have his revenge while the Autobots begin to uncover a dark truth between the Decepticon Warlord and his Second-In-Command.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Shades Of Grey

**Setting:** Sometime after 'Rock Bottom', but before 'Partners', so Arcee does _not_ know that Starscream killed Cliffjumper.

**Summary: **There was a reason for forbidding any interaction with enemy prisoners.

**A/N:** Alright, so this is my first Transformers story. I've been meaning to write one for a while now, it has been a while itself since I last wrote anything - I swear I've gone through about six different attempts at starting one before I settled on this one. If anyone is reading this, I'd like to point out that there are no guarantees I'll finish this, I just happen to write on a whim, so you know, just as a heads up. Anyway, I wasn't supposed to post this until later on in the year, but just in case things go awry muse-wise, I'd like to make my contribution now while it matters :) Hope you enjoy!

**Chapter One**

_Considering _their _history, it wasn't that surprising after all._

/\/\/\/\/\

Ever since Decepticon activity picked up, energon trails had been discovered left and right. For whatever reason, stealth didn't seem to be an option in the Decepticons' mode of operations, not that the Autobots were complaining. The somewhat outdated technology back at the base (outdated by a decent few thousand vorns by their standards), despite Ratchet's tampering and reprogramming, was not well suited for energon tracking. Even though the Decepticons' return meant they had to resume that age-old, vicious exchange of words and strikes, they could finally detect any careless energon movement made by them.

Arcee guessed it could be called ironic in the way they depended on them to find their only means of survival on this planet. It was only a shame they had to settle for energon scraps at best to keep them going.

_'Still, better scraps than nothing I guess'_.

Concentrating on the road ahead, she checked her radar for the energon signal the base's tracker had picked up, but nothing was there.

_'Strange, Ratchet was sure there was a signal coming from around here'_ she thought, contacting the base while maintaining her speed.

"Arcee to base, does anyone copy?" she started routinely.

"Ratchet here. Any news on that energon trail?" a gruff voice replied.

"Nothing so far, I don't have any close-range signal" she said while re-checking her radar. "Are you sure I got the right coordinates?".

"Yes, I'm sure" he said bluntly, and began tapping numerous computer keys, bringing up a map on the screen. "According to my information, you are roughly five kliks away from the source of the signal".

"You couldn't bridge me any closer to it?" she asked casually, half-knowing the answer already.

"Not if you wanted the Decepticons to find you, no. Besides, knowing them, they're likely to bring the Nemesis in for a pick up. I'd be more concerned with running into that if I were you".

"Gee, that's reassuring, Ratchet" she replied sarcastically, following a turn that lead to a shadowed straight between a large crevasse.

"I don't think I need to remind you that this is a _reconnaissance_ _only_ mission, Arcee" he said seriously. "Should things get out of hand, we'll do what we can to get you out of there".

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I'll be in touch soon. Arcee out".

With that she quickly left the shelter of the crevasse, eager to keep track of the energon trail. She found herself driving along a deserted road situated on a steep precipice that overlooked a rocky valley so obscured by jagged hills and clusters of trees that she could barely see into the heart of it – the perfect place to mine for energon while remaining virtually undetectable.

As if on cue, her radar pinged, picking up a signal roughly half a kilometre away from her position. It was faint, disappearing for seconds at times, but it was there nonetheless. Where 'there' was, however, was the problem. According to her radar, the signal was located somewhere in the middle of that valley.

_'Damn, it's never that easy, is it?'_ she cursed, before trying to find an alternate route on her navigational system. She knew there was no way she could scale down a cliff that steep and make it out unharmed. She had to find another way, even if it meant taking that much longer to reach her destination.

The road ahead, she discovered, eventually lead to a more levelled area of land. Now that didn't exactly mean it was the most stable and safest 'tourist' route or anything, far from it. Angled at what she estimated was 50 degrees at a decline and littered with rocks and uneven surfaces and dried flaky shrubs wedged between small cracks in the ground, it was hardly the quickest route she could take, but as far as her mission went, it was one that provided her with the most cover by the looks of it.

Transforming into her bipedal mode, she made her way down onto the rocky terrain, contacting the base as she went.

A short silence followed before Ratchet's voice answered again.

"Did you find anything yet?".

While keeping an eye on her motion tracker, she steadily made her way past the jagged grounds and into a graduated area of shrubbery and trees that thrived amongst the shade created by the towering rock faces.

"I'm almost at the source of the signal" she replied, "but it's not exactly the easiest place to get into. It looks as if the plant-life gets even denser from here on".

"Really?" he asked, almost surprised. "You'd think the Decepticons would've made a larger mess of the place".

"Let's put it this way" she said, using her hands to push past branches in her way. "I'm not exactly taking the _conventional_ route".

"Well, you have your reasons I suppose".

"Oh trust me, when I get there, there _better_ be a whole stellar cycle's worth of energon or _someone_ will never hear the end of it".

"That bad, hmm?" he asked, while he typed at something in the background. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be over it soon enough".

"Yeah, easy for you to say Ratchet".

A clanging could be heard from the other side of the line.

"And just what is _that_ supposed to mean?" he demanded, his short temper seemingly riled.

"Nothing" she answered quickly, momentarily forgetting about the taboo topic concerning Ratchet's experience in the field. The last thing she wanted to do was get on the medic's bad side, not that his complaints were ever about her. _She_ at least was lucky enough to escape the worst of his moods – unfortunately, she couldn't say the same for Bumblebee and Bulkhead.

"That's what I thought" he said conclusively. "Now, is there anything else you wanted to state, mope or whine about?".

Arcee rolled her optics, a half-smile on her face.

"When I reach the source, I'll be recording any visuals of what I can get, but apart from that I'll be going silent. I'd like to remain undetected if I can help it. I'll transmit my findings to you when I'm done".

"Understood, Arcee. I'll contact you after receiving the transmissions".

"Expect them soon, it looks like I'm nearing the site as we speak".

"All right. You're on your own for now, Arcee. Ratchet out".

Now fully alert and aware of her surroundings, she masked her energy output as best she could and stepped away from the obscurity of the rocks and moved forward into the tangle of the spindly trees ahead of her, crouching low to remain under their canopy and moving forward to get a better look at the clearing ahead of her.

_'Well, I guess Ratchet was right after all'_ she thought, looking down another decline that lead further into the heart of the valley, while scanning and recording the image before her.

The field was barren of any organic life forms, cleared out no doubt by the numerous Decepticon miners harrowing away at the remaining pure energon crystals protruding from the ground. A short distance away, workers were boxing mined shards of energon into clear cubed containers and stacking them onto transportable platforms. From there, they were pulled onto a large round metal surface, a lift, that followed an ascension enclosed by wide rings leading into the belly of the Nemesis.

_'Of all places, what are the chances...?'_ Arcee thought to herself as she recorded an image of the Nemesis docked low on the ground, probably at the lowest point of the valley from what she could tell, so that the surrounding cliffs and rocks provided a satisfactory cover from any passer by.

But the fact that the Nemesis was there did not worry her as much as it did the area excavated for the purpose of energon extraction. An area that large must have contained a large quantity of energon crystals, and the fact that there were still a number of crystals remaining, albeit small deposits, made her that much more uneasy.

_'Just how long have the Decepticons been mining here?'_.

There was really no way around it. Defeating the Decepticons and winning the war had always been the primary objective. Without it, peace could never be brought about, and countless of innocent worlds would be at stake, just as Earth was. No doubt if Megatron and his forces had had their way by now, Earth would be nothing but an uninhabitable rock and the humans..the humans would just be another species, exterminated at the whim of a dictator who claimed that only the fittest could be granted survival.

And yet, all of this, all these countless vorns of fighting and death and destruction, meant nothing if they couldn't find energon.

"_Stay true to the cause, stand by your fellow Autobots,__ and fight to win. Fight to remember your fallen comrades, to remember those innocents who could not fight to protect themselves, and fight for Cybertron..."_.

That had been the first of many motivational speeches made by the commanding officer she first served under, before she'd been promoted and transferred to Prime's squad.

_'I guess he forgot to mention what would happen once Cybertron became a wasteland and our energon reserves ran low'_ Arcee thought bitterly, before taking a final scan of the area and prepared to send her images. _'No one ever thought the war would go _this _far'._

Still crouching low to the ground, she tapped a key on a gadget on her left arm which brought up a holographic screen with cybertronian commands. Pressing a sharp finger to the touch-sensitive screen, she began to upload the images into a file for transmission.

_'Come on, hurry up..'_ she thought, resisting the urge to tap her fingers impatiently against her leg. Despite Ratchet's reassurances, being this close to the Decepticon armada _alone_ wasn't the most soothing feeling, after all, anything could go wrong from her experience.

_'The sooner I get out of here, the better'_ she convinced herself, while bringing up the file and pressing her fingers on the screen, specifying the file's destination. The screen flashed a confirmation message, asking her whether she was sure she wanted to send the file. With a bit more pressure than was required, she confirmed the transmission, and waited for her next orders. Considering the circumstances, this mission would have to be stored under the ever-growing "waste of time" file she was sure that existed somewhere in the Autobot database.

From a distance, a steady low rumble made itself known to Arcee's audio components, and her body was suddenly tense as her battle systems automatically activated. What was once a low rumble in the air turned into a booming roar, and to her dismay, two fighter jets soared overhead and circled around the valley in a completely synchronised manoeuvre, right to the far edge before looping around the Nemesis and flying back, closer to her position but not in her direction.

The larger, bulkier jet was in the lead while the smaller, sleeker one followed close by, imitating his leader's sudden dive and transformation, perching nearby him on a platform that overlooked the workers in the middle of the valley.

_'Slag'_ Arcee cursed, _'just what I needed'_.

She instinctively went to open up her communication device and link up with the base for a quick evac, but her fingers only just hovered by her audio component as she realised that Megatron was arguing with Starscream. She paused for a moment and turned up her audio receptors, just enough that she was able to clearly hear Megatron's shouts and Starscream's own pleads.

"..no fault of mine, I assure you Master. The overseer was supposed to-".

"I don't care for what the _overseer_ was supposed to do, _Starscream_. The fact that you did not take care of it when the matter first arose is what disappoints me" Megatron said while looming threateningly over the smaller figure.

"But Master, I.." he started, hunching defensively as Megatron glared at him. "I replaced the defective cloaking device as required – how could I know the second would malfunction just the same?".

Megatron let out a low snarl, flexing his claws while visibly resisting the urge to strangle his second.

"When was the last time an inventory check was carried out?".

"Seven solar cycles ago" the seeker replied instantly.

"And why were the malfunctioning units not dealt with?".

"The report came back clear, Lord Megatron. Everything was in perfect order at the time".

"Really, Starscream?" Megatron questioned sceptically. "I wonder, what could have possibly gone amiss in such a..small time frame, hmm?".

"Eh heh.." he started, a nervous expression on his face. "Nothing _I_ would have anything to do with – Master" he added on quickly with a subservient bow.

Arcee looked on with a slight shake of her head.

_'Some things never change'_ she thought.

With Megatron turned away from her, however, she couldn't quite catch the strange expression on his face at his second-in-command's actions, the grandiose gestures of the seeker failing to please him.

"Starscream" he spoke, looking over to the mass of workers mining the small remainder of the energon deposits in the area, before addressing him completely. "I grow tired of this".

Arcee could see Starscream tense up at those words.

"W-What ever do you mean, Master?" he stuttered, his own claws beginning to fidget in anxiousness.

"I believe you know _exactly_ what I mean" Megatron said, while taking heavy steps towards the seeker, his fusion cannon humming with power. "Though I should have known better – it really is no surprise that you did not heed my warning".

Starscream instinctively stepped back, his hands open before him as an unaggressive gesture.

"Lord Megatron, surely you're being unreasonable? A simple malfunction will not cost us a scrap of energon, I assure you".

"I'm not talking about a measly blunder, Starscream" he dead panned, and only then did the seeker seem to realise what he was on about.

"B-But I have done everything you've asked!".

"Menial requests and orders – I ask for more than that!".

"The skills and lives of my aerial squadron – I've trained them to fight for you, they would follow you till the end!" he said desperately, his hands clasped in front of him as he sunk in fear to his knees.

"They would be of no use to me _dead_" Megatron replied, while aiming his cannon at the prostrate figure.

Arcee's optics widened as the situation became all too familiar once again, but this time, she had a feeling nothing was going to stop him from executing his second-in-command.

Starscream's pleads had turned into outright begging. It looked as if he wasn't even trying to fight or flee from Megatron – she guessed that _something_ must have happened after he was left in that mine not too long ago.

"Master, please!" he insisted. "I placed my own Seekers under your command!".

He shook his head as something overcame him, before lowering his voice to a quiet, mournful tone.

"My..my own _trine_, Lord Megatron. They gave their lives, under your orders. Of what more could you possibly ask?".

"_Your _loyalty, Starscream!" Megatron finally said, not fazed by his pitiful speech. "I ask for nothing more than your utter and devout loyalty to me!".

"Was not everything I once held claim to, in giving to you, evidence of my loyalty?" he pleaded desperately once more.

"In knowing you over the countless number of stellar cycles I've had to put up with, I would have to question your definition of that word".

Starscream remained silent, his head bowed bitterly as Megatron laughed darkly.

"No argument there, I see?" he paused, contemplative. "In all my years, I have never met a more deceitful mech with even more a deceitful tongue – oh believe me, _Starscream_, I'm no stranger to sarcasm! And I've had it up to here with your blatant disrespect of my authority".

His words hit home as Starscream remained bowed low on the ground, his optics refusing to make contact with Megatron's as he finally pledged: "Give me another chance, Lord Megatron. I'll make it up to you, I'll change, I swear it!".

Megatron stared down at his second-in-command with distaste, his optics glowering with disdain.

"I am done with giving you 'second chances'" he stated conclusively, his weapon glowing as he prepared to fire. "And even yet perhaps these circumstances would have been different, if you haven't become so..._disposable_".

At this Starscream froze, and Arcee held her intakes as the seeker lifted his head in attempt, she assumed, to give one last pleading look.

"W-Wait! Master, no, I-".

But his words were drowned out by the point-blank blast that resonated as Megatron fired his fusion cannon into Starscream's chest, flinging him onto his back where he remained motionless among the broken rocks.

Open-mouthed, Arcee watched as Megatron seemed to murmur something to the fallen seeker, before turning to address the workers, who had no doubt been listening in on the exchange.

"Hurry up with the final batch! We leave in three kliks, no exceptions!".

"Yes, Lord Megatron" a chorus of workers replied as the Decepticon leader transformed and soared towards the Nemesis.

Arcee watched as the workers quickly finished and boarded the Nemesis, its engines powering up to a deafening whine before its thrusters fired it off the ground, ascending it further into the sky until it became entirely encompassed within the clouds.

It wasn't until everything had become deathly silent that she realised that Ratchet was trying to ping through to her comm link.

"Arcee! Arcee are you there?".

Returning her awareness to her surroundings, she finally replied to his fretting voice.

"Yeah, Ratchet. I'm here".

Getting up from her prone position, she looked down to where the conflict had taken place. It was a fair way down from where she stood, but looking to the side, she saw a safer route down from the elevated flat along the steadily declining cliff face.

"Oh thank Primus" he uttered. "We've been trying to reach you for close to two kliks now. You had us worried".

"Ratchet, trust me when I say I've been a bit occupied" she said, as she carefully scaled her way down, using the wheels on her legs to steady and slow her descent.

"You were discovered?" he asked, dreading the possibility of another injured Autobot.

"No, far from it" she reassured. "In fact..you wouldn't believe me if I told you".

"Try me" he said, waiting patiently for her answer.

As she neared the lower platform, she gracefully leaped off the cliff face, flipped and braced her legs, landing safely mere metres from the fallen seeker.

"I think Optimus should be there to hear this too" she suggested, carefully stepping around the melted and broken pieces of metal debris that had been blasted off on impact. A short distance away from the seeker, she could just make out the remains of a delicate wing that she assumed may have snapped on forceful impact, judging by the way the inner fibres looked splintered and frayed where they would have been attached to the seeker's back.

"I'm here, Arcee" a rumbling voice answered. "What happened?".

"Well.." she started. "Megatron scrapped Starscream".

A brief silence followed as her statement sunk in.

Optimus was the first to speak.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his tone of voice undecipherable.

"I saw it with my own optics" she said without hesitating. "He took a blast, right to the chest. The 'Cons haven't even come back to collect the body..poor slagger" she added on without remorse.

"How does it look?" Ratchet asked. "Is there any...doubt?".

"There are pieces of him strewn everywhere – it's not a pretty sight" she said, cringing slightly as her sensory receptors picked up the distinct smell of burning metal and energon. "There's no way he could've made it through that" she commented further, glancing at the charred metal plating that had melted and withered away from the heat of the blast, exposing some of his inner circuitry.

"If you're certain.." Optimus began solemnly, his tone triggering something in Ratchet.

"Oh no, please don't suggest what I think you're about to suggest..".

Arcee wasn't sure what caused Ratchet to groan in annoyance, but she had a feeling if Ratchet didn't like it, then neither would she.

"I believe it may be up to us..to place his body to rest".

"Optimus you can't be serious" Ratchet objected immediately. "I can't even begin to describe the implications of that, and I'm certain they wouldn't do the same for us!".

Another silence passed as Optimus contemplated his words, and Arcee waited for his answer.

"But it's not just about that, is it?" Ratchet questioned.

Optimus sighed before he spoke again, this time more gravely.

"Should I remind you all that, though we trust our human friends, you know as well as I that there are _some_ humans who would gladly take advantage of their find, should his body be discovered. We cannot, under any circumstances, allow the humans access to our technology. I fear that if they do, their world will soon spiral into the same chaos that destroyed ours. Starscream may have been our enemy and betrayed by his own side.."

_'Yeah, there's nothing ironic about that'_ Arcee thought sarcastically as she bent down to pick up his wrist, lifting his limp arm before dropping it. _'Like a brick..'_. She placed a hand over his mouth, checking for any sign of an intake as Optimus continued.

"..but regardless of his own war crimes, it would go against every moral code _we_ stand for if we allow the humans to desecrate his body for the sole intent of creating weapons of warfare and destruction".

_'Trust Optimus to have a way with words'_ Arcee thought as a bitter taste formed in her mouth, finally removing her hand from its position. No intakes, whatsoever.

"Well, by the looks of it, we may have to follow through on that" Arcee commented. "No movement, no intakes, no heat radiation – I can't even hear a spark beat, and his plating is too misshapen to even attempt a manual spark-check" she paused for a moment. "I could always pry it open if you're that desperate to find out".

"No, no. That won't be necessary" Optimus said. "Thank you Arcee. We'll make the necessary arrangements from here".

"Optimus, may I speak freely?" she asked, her eyes inspecting the malformed plating and the melted indent close to the centre of the seeker's chest that had been a direct result of the blast.

"Of course".

"I don't entirely agree with this" she openly said, choosing her words carefully. She knew she had nothing to fear from expressing her own opinion, but she also wished to remain respectful to her leader's choice – deep down she knew his was the right one, but she couldn't help but feel the need to offer her side (and most likely the side of the other team members) to him.

"I mean, I understand that we can't let the humans find him, but are we really going to 'put him to rest'? Are we supposed to forget everything he's done, just like that? If his own side didn't take him back, what does that say about them? What does that say about _him_?".

_'Who is to say he _deserves_ to be put to rest?'_ Arcee wanted to say, but held her words back.

Optimus sighed, his voice understanding.

"In times like this, Arcee" he started, in that same familiar tone she knew he used when he was about to make a point to convince her otherwise of her own opinion, "It does not matter what anything says about them or him, but rather what it says about us. If we don't set the right example, then whose lead do the others follow?".

He let a short moment pass to allow his reasoning to sink in.

"I am not asking you to forgive and forget, only that we make an effort to remain honourable and, no matter how atrocious his crimes had been in life, hope that he attains the peace he never found during life, in death. It is all we can do".

Arcee exhaled the heat from her systems, her expression passive as she contemplated his words.

"..I'm still not entirely sure".

"You have the right to your own opinion, Arcee, but know that we do this not because we have to, but because it is right".

Arcee nodded to herself.

"I understand".

"We'll meet you on the other side soon. Ratchet shouldn't be much longer".

"Take your time, _he's_ not going anywhere" she said, looking back over the body.

Despite Optimus' reasoning, she still couldn't help but feel a great deal of animosity towards the seeker. She had no doubt that any Cybertronian who had lived and fought during the war on their side would say that there would be no love lost at Starscream's death. His own side even despised him – Arcee would imagine if they'd come back for the body, they would be inclined to salvage him for parts, or better yet offer his frame as a gift to Megatron to hang as a trophy.

A part of her could only feel glad at that and say the seeker finally got his dues...but then again, a smaller part of her thought, putting two and two together before the realisation hit her: if they weren't going to deal with the body, then no one would.

No one would come back for him.

No one would mourn him.

No one would remember him.

No one would _care_.

She felt a stab of pain in her spark, not exactly for him, but not exactly..._not_ for him. She didn't know where that thought came from, where that feeling had originated, but it made her feel and think – if it had been her in his place, wouldn't she want to be remembered? To know that even though she had left that world and moved on to the next, that the living were still thinking of her, remembering who she had been, what she had done?

That was not to say Starscream wouldn't be remembered – in fact the after-effects of his 'handiwork' would no doubt still be felt for years to come. It was just...the war had gone on for so long, was there anything _good_ of him anyone remembered. Who he had been, what he had done – as far as she was concerned, Arcee could not think of anything. Judging by his rank and his frame – or what was left of it – he was much older than she was, by how many stellar cycles she could not tell, he probably came from the high, aristocratic class of Cybertron whereas she had come from the average middle-class caste. If the war had never happened, if they were left to live their lives as normal, she was certain she would never have met him, let alone have known him.

Without a doubt, she concluded, it would have been better that way.

She sighed, suddenly feeling uncomfortable kneeling beside his corpse for so long.

_Primus_ what was she even doing there?

She shook her head, willing to remind herself he had been, and still was, the enemy. But her thoughts kept coming back.

No one would mourn him. No one would remember him. No one would care.

Her processor was urging her to speak words she didn't want to say or even think of saying, because even in death _he_ did not deserve to hear them. He was a _Decepticon_, through and through. He didn't deserve their pity, for all he'd done, and yet there they were, his own enemies about to take it upon themselves to give _him_ of all 'Cons any semblance of peace.

_'Yeah, and I'm sure you'd do the same' _she thought sarcastically. _'You're more likely to turn us in for scrap if you had the chance. So much for gratitude'_.

But looking back down to glimpse at the features on his face, she saw a pained expression, filled with unease and hurt and a sense of..shock? Disbelief? She didn't know. She didn't want to know, because she knew if she over analysed it, her mind would start drifting again, and she would lose her focus on the bigger picture.

A Decepticon was a Decepticon.

_'No exceptions'_ she tried to convince herself, but remembering the way he lay prone on the ground, pathetically trying to convince Megatron to spare his life after so long, how he didn't even try to fight him...he _had_ tried to change, even if the only motivation was to spare his own life.

"Look where that got you" she finally said out loud, looking back down at him. "I don't know who's more more to blame – Megatron for keeping you around this long, or you for believing he wouldn't turn on you in the end, for all the good you've done".

A soft sigh escaped her, shaking her head to herself.

"I..I guess even someone like you should have someone to remember them," she finally admitted. "Not that you deserve it" she spoke very quietly, not thinking of only his situation, but of hers, and Bumblebee's and Bulkhead's, and Optimus' and Ratchet's..

_'And Cliff jumper's and Tailgate's'_ she thought sadly, before taking a deep intake, feeling an imaginary weight lifting off her shoulders.

"Well, I think that's enough talk for one solar cycle, and more than I'd ever say to you in a lifetime" she concluded, but with not quite as much malice as she'd intended, before getting up to stretch her legs, her joints aching from their cramped position.

And then she heard it, the distinct sound, however faint, of a ragged intake, followed by a very weak splutter. Arcee instantly transformed her arm into her primary weapon and aimed it at the seeker, who had only barely managed to online his optics as a fresh trickle of energon appeared from his mouth.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing – how could his body take that much abuse and survive? What was keeping him alive? How could she not find any sign of life in him before?

It didn't take long for her to recover from the shock, and her hand shot to her audio component as she contacted the base, unsure of how to proceed. In the end, it wasn't up to her to decide the fate of the Decepticon anyway, and regardless of the decision that was sure to be made, it didn't look as if he would last for much longer.

"Arcee to base, we have a situation" she started, not waiting for a response. "Starscream is alive".

A short moment passed before a voice answered.

"He's what?" Ratchet asked incredulously.

"I know, I can't believe it myself".

"How..How is that possible?".

"Trust me, I've been asking myself the same thing" she said, more to herself than anything. "What should we do?".

There was silence from the other side, and Arcee took a brief glance at the seeker. His vision, somehow, had managed to focus up enough to see her (or so she thought) through his still-hazy optics. A small, quiet whimper managed to escape him – whether he was trying to speak or cry out in pain, she wasn't too sure, but she forced herself to look away, afraid that if she looked any longer she would not be able to restrain herself, and end his misery right there and then.

_'Primus forbid it would be that easy'_ she thought uneasily, as the silence seemed to stretch on, threatening to disrupt her semi-calm state.

"Frag it, I can't just sit here and watch, what do you want me to do?" she only just restrained herself from yelling over the comm link.

Finally, a voice answered.

"Arcee," Optimus began, "what's his status?".

A mental sigh of relief escaped her, her processor finally settling at the sound of a command.

"Not good" she said, looking over to the seeker once more. "He's lost a lot of energon, and as far as I can tell his vital systems are heavily damaged. I'm no medic...but if we were to leave him here, he definitely wouldn't make it the night – I'd go so far as to say he won't make it the next five kliks at this rate".

Her words made her pause for a brief second, a small notion nagging at the back of her processor.

"Optimus..we _are_ going to leave him here, aren't we?".

"I don't believe that was ever an option, now more so than ever" Optimus said sombrely.

"Don't tell me, we're going to..?" Arcee trailed off. She didn't need to finish her sentence for Optimus to know what she was asking.

"I think you very well know the answer to that, Arcee" Optimus replied, confirming her thoughts – and, to her dismay, her fears. "We cannot allow this opportunity to pass by. However slim the chances are, we must maintain the hope that should Starscream make a full recovery under our care, he may share valuable information that may turn the tides of this war".

And then he gave the order.

"Arcee, stabilise Starscream as best you can. Ratchet, gather your medical equipment for an emergency on-site patch up. We won't let him die, not on our watch".

**End Chapter One**

**Important Note:** I'll be busy for the next two weeks (at most, I think) with my finals, so I won't be working on the next chapter until after then. Unfortunately I have a notorious streak for taking a _looooong_ time to update, but hopefully I'll be able to spew something out by Christmas.

As always, reviews are appreciated and constructive criticism is very welcome! Feel free to be picky about the characters - I can't stand OOC-ness myself :)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I know, I know, I said I'd take at least another week to upload the next chapter but this just sort of came to be quicker than I thought as I procrastinated from my studies. So here's an early present for anyone reading this. Thank you to all who reviewed the previous chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one just the same :)

**Chapter Two**

_No matter how she looked at it, she was just a soldier following orders._

/\/\/\/\/\

She was emotionless as she pulled out her standard field medical kit, kneeling once more next to the seeker.

Orders were orders, no matter how much she disagreed with them, and she was a soldier through and through. It wasn't her place to question Optimus' motives, or speak out against them, or outright rebel against his decision. That wasn't how it worked, it was _never_ how it worked. He was the leader for a reason, and whatever he said went.

A never ending mantra kept running through her head as she pulled out a syringe-like cylinder and a bottle filled with a very dilute, light blue liquid, shaking it, and pouring it up to the cylinder's half-way point: _'He's right. He knows what he's saying. He's thought this through. He's right. He knows what he's saying..'_.

But it seemed the longer she tried to convince herself of it, the more things she found could go completely wrong.

Who or what was to guarantee Starscream would feel any bit indebted to them and _willingly_ offer them information. What would Optimus do then? Would he still try to peacefully persuade him into giving them information? Would he resort to _forcing_ it out of him?

And who was to say the second he was functional, he wouldn't blast a hole through the roof and just leave, or that he wouldn't turn on the lot of them and use their corpses to decorate the base?

Nothing was ever certain in these times, but that was just it, wasn't it?

Bringing the tip of the syringe to the crook of the seeker's arm, she prodded it for an opening to his energon lines, hoping his sensors would automatically respond to the emergency code embedded into the tip's edge. Unfortunately he didn't seem to take it too easily, putting up what she _assumed_ was a fight, using what she believed was the remainder of his strength to attempt to stubbornly move his arm away from her grasp.

"N-No..just leave me..be.." he managed to choke out, his voice ragged and harsh with pain. "I don't..need..your help.._Autobot_".

_'Great, here we go..'_ she sighed. As if it wasn't bad enough having to save him, she'd actually have to _talk_ to him now.

"That's not up to you to decide" she replied assertively. "You're lucky Optimus has the mercy to keep you alive. No one else would've done the same".

He sneered.

"Mercy, ha!...Tell him..he can shove his mercy..up his — ah!" he clenched his teeth in pain as Arcee none-too-gently held his arm firmly to the ground and forced the syringe into place.

"Just hold still," she ordered with a passive expression on her features, but her eyes betrayed the satisfaction she felt at causing him that little bit of pain. "Believe me when I say you'll need it".

A series of harsh Cybertronian clicks escaped his vocaliser as he cursed her violently, before he relaxed as the medication took its toll fast.

"Charming," she commented sarcastically, glaring at him with all the hatred she could muster.

_'Well, that's one thing dealt with'_ she thought with bitterness, pulling out a scanning device and monitoring his basic vital information – spark beat frequency, heat radiation and his life signal's strength.

It didn't take a genius to see that after millennia of fighting and death and destruction, Optimus was ready to end it all. Hell, he'd been there from the start of it – if there was anyone more ready to see its end, it was him. All things considered, she couldn't blame him for wanting to try something like this – she was almost certain he'd tried everything else without success.

And as much fight as _she_ put up against the Decepticons, as much as she took part in all their battles, to defend herself and her team mates and uphold her values and beliefs, she too had grown tired of it – _everyone_ on the team had grown tired of it. She could barely remember a time when her thoughts didn't revolve around whether she would live to see another day pass. War had become so intertwined with their lives that the two could not be seen as independent happenings any more, but rather as symbiotic events – but that didn't mean _she_ was ready to welcome the enemy into their base with open arms after all they'd been through.

"I just can't believe it had to come to this.." she murmured under her breath, more to herself than anyone else.

Not two seconds later, a glowing green light illuminated the ground as a ground bridge portal opened up not 10 metres away from her, revealing Ratchet as he made his way through the portal.

"By the Allspark.." he gasped, watching the ground as he carefully stepped over the debris littered all over it. "You said it wasn't good, but I didn't imagine it was _this_ bad".

"Does that change anything?" she asked, half expectantly.

"Eh, I've seen worse in my days.." he grumbled, pulling out a more complex scanner, attaching wires with electromagnetic tabs onto the side of the seeker's head, chest and abdomen before looking at the readings. "Spark beats are slow but steady, and his secondary systems have shut down to conserve power. His life-sustaining systems are damaged and only part-functional, but his brain activity is spiking – did you administer the inhibitor?".

"Yep. Can't say he was too happy about that though" Arcee replied as she took the offered scanner from Ratchet's grasp.

"Well, with your bedside manner, that's hardly surprising" he retorted quietly, expertly inspecting the large indent where the blast had hit.

"Oh? You're one to talk" she bit back.

"Mmmhmm...Keep it up and your next check-up may involve several unwanted personality modifications" he threatened without emotion as he pulled out several tools and quickly got to work on patching up the delicate energon lines under the plating of the seeker's chest that'd broken and burned on impact, that had caused most of the energon loss.

"Sorry for trying to lighten the mood" she shrugged, keeping her optics on the scanner. "I don't understand why the damage hasn't forced him into stasis lock yet. With the inhibitor in his systems, shouldn't he be well into it?".

"Hmm" he thought out loud, while still working on the seeker's wounds. "It's not unheard of for mechs to physiologically resist inhibitors, especially if the solution is particularly dilute – like your standard one. You'll find that unless they are administered by a trained medical practitioner, they rarely have the potency to place a mech in full stasis lock. The inhibitors found in every standard field medical kit were only designed to suppress pain receptors, amongst other things, just long enough to do the most basic of repairs in the middle of a battle before naturally wearing off. No lasting effects, no reduced motor ability, nothing".

He paused for a moment, briefly considering a thought.

"Still with his damage, it is a rather unusual case. He's quite a..resilient one".

A short silence stretched between them as they worked in silence but for the occasional sound of a spark or a faint protest from their patient, which they ignored without question.

Finally he spoke.

"I've finished bridging any crucial circuits I can find, but I can't do much else without taking him back to the base and thoroughly cleaning and inspecting the damage" he said, checking and double checking his work on the seeker's internal wounds. "I've made sure to disable his weapons system as well, lest he try anything funny. He should be stable enough to move now, but any sudden movement may put him into a critical condition again – I'm afraid we can't afford to make that mistake if he is to make it through this alive".

'_Oh, what a shame'_ she only just refrained from saying, instead opting to go along with it.

"And…we're going to transport him, how?" she questioned – as soon as she asked, she had a feeling she was going to regret it.

"Well…" he started, as he pulled out a large folded, rectangular object, laying it out on the flat ground next to him and uncompressing it, revealing it to be a thin inflexible metal-plated stretcher - although to her it looked more like a fragile board.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me" she protested. "We're going to lift him with _that?_".

"Do I look like I 'kid'?" he shrugged. "I know it's not the most..'up to date' piece of equipment, but I had to make do with what I had. Unfortunately I haven't got around to fixing the other one after _somebody_ broke it".

Arcee smiled and rolled her optics at the memory of Bumblebee accidentally failing to catch a lob by Bulkhead, causing the hulking metal sphere to fling off his fingers and land inside Ratchet's medical supply room, conveniently smashing into the said piece of equipment.

"Besides, we can't risk lifting him without any support" he continued. "Any more unnecessary strain on his body may place him beyond the hope of repair – it could re-open fresh wounds, undo what repairs I've done to his body, trigger his very life-sustaining systems to overheat and crash under pressure. Why, if that were the case, his systems could offline before he'd make it through the ground bridge, and then I'd have to perform an emergency-".

"All right, all right, I get it" she interrupted, before _his_ processor overheated at calculating the countless number of possibilities that could go wrong. "Still, my point is that _that's_ not going to hold him" she said with a hand pointing at the stretcher, eyeing its thin frame.

"Hey, who's the expert around here? If I say it'll hold, it'll hold – and I'm saying, _it'll hold_" he said conclusively. "Now, what we need to do is _carefully_ shift him onto it – we're talking about the slightest of movements here".

She sighed, giving in, and placed the scanner on the seeker's abdomen.

"All right, so who grabs what?".

"We'll both grab his arms – it'll be easier if we shift his body on first".

Starscream kept his fading optics on both of them as they hooked their arms under his shoulders, the seeker giving an involuntary hiss of discomfort, protesting as his body was lifted slightly from its position and then pulled to the side until he could feel most of the cool metal along his back. Despite the fact his pain receptors had been inhibited, he couldn't help but grimace as the broken edge of the wing – or lack thereof – on his back grazed the surface of the stretcher, emitting a small screeching sound as he was placed flat on the surface once more.

At this his vitals on the scanner pinged for a few seconds, before they stabilised once again. Checking over them for any drastic changes, Ratchet nodded as he thought to himself.

"All right, everything is still functional, but we have to hurry it up. Any minute now the inhibitor will start to wear off, and I'd prefer to have him set in the repair bay before he becomes fully aware. Quickly grab his legs".

Obeying without hesitation at Ratchet's hurried tone, she made a grab for one ankle while Ratchet took hold of the other, pulling and pushing individually in one direction until both of the seeker's slender legs were placed straight along the centre of the flat metal surface. At making sure he was secure, he contacted the base, his optics taking note of the pieces of metal around them.

"Ratchet to base, we're ready for a ground bridge at our location. We..may need an extra hand however" he said, eyeing the severed wing in particular.

"Understood. I'll send Bumblebee to meet you on the other side. Stand by for a ground bridge" Optimus answered, before cutting the connection.

Arcee turned to Ratchet.

"You think Bumblebee and Bulkhead took the news well?" she asked, indicating to the incapacitated seeker.

Ratchet shrugged.

"As well as any of us took it, I suppose" he sighed. "But I'm sure Optimus will give us all a full explanation of the details once we return. It's been a long day".

Arcee sighed to herself, lost in her own thoughts, still wondering where they would go from there now that they were about to harbour the enemy within their own base; what it could change, what would _need_ to be changed, whether it would all be worth it in the end?

"You can say that again" she murmured to no one in particular, awaiting the arrival of the ground bridge.

Not much later one appeared in its previous position, with Bumblebee appearing quickly from it. He bleeped a greeting, moving over to Starscream's position and waving a hand over the seeker's fading optics.

"Buzz off, bug" the seeker managed to snarl, though with perhaps not as much vigour as he'd intended, however his action caused the scanner's spark rate monitor to beep as he coughed twice and took in several wheezy intakes.

"All right all right that's enough. You can continue your antics _after_ we've returned to the base, but for now could I please have your cooperation?" Ratchet interrupted, his medical instincts taking over as he took note that the seeker was becoming more aware.

Bumblebee shrugged, unaffected by Ratchet's stern tone, but bleeped in agreement just the same.

"Good. Arcee, I want you to collect any piece of Starscream's armour you can find on the ground – that wing piece over there in particular" he said while gesturing to the object, before crouching at the top end of the stretcher behind the seeker's head, grabbing the handles on either edge in his grip. "Bumblebee, you're going to help me lift him into the base".

As he gave out further instructions to Bumblebee, Arcee moved to the wing piece first, bending to pick it up. While it wasn't heavy to carry, the first thing she noticed was its size in comparison to her own body. While it was narrower than her own body's width, it was close to half her height in length. The metal plating of the wing, she also took note of, was very smooth to the touch – it didn't take a genius to know it had been taken care of very well over many millennia.

'_Well, I guess what they say is true'_ she thought, adjusting it in her arms so that she could collect the remaining pieces off the ground. _'A seeker's wings are their only pride and joy. I'm sure Ratchet will have a field day when he gets around to fixing this'._

As she was collecting the final piece, Ratchet and Bumblebee lifted the seeker off the ground, one of his arms falling limply off the stretcher as they manoeuvred him before the awaiting ground bridge.

"Arcee" Ratchet called out, twisting around to partly face her. "Are you almost done?".

With both hands occupied and scrap pieces of metal clutched to her chest, she replied, "Yeah, I've got the last piece. Go, I'll be right behind you".

Without waiting a second longer she followed them through the ground bridge and heard it close behind her, noting that Bulkhead was at the controls with Optimus, who had a grim expression on his features as they moved through to the repair bay. But rather than feeling at ease at being within the walls of the base, a feeling of anxiousness overcame her as she couldn't help but think, _'This is actually happening. We're actually going through with this'_.

Though the thought had very much been there before, it was but a possibility within the recesses of her processor not five kliks ago as she'd clung to the hope that maybe, just maybe, something would go wrong. That Ratchet would deem Starscream beyond repair, or that Starscream would naturally offline, or even that the Decepticons would make a late return for his body. It was a cruel thought, and she knew it, and had it been the same case in a different circumstance she wouldn't have stopped to think before she helped him – but that was exactly it.

_This_ was a war, not some sparkling's fictional tale about a 'happily ever after' where everyone lives in the end; _this_ was their reality. And even yet she could feel there was something underlying this fact, something she couldn't put her mind to that, deep down, bothered her to no end. It wasn't unheard of for Autobots to take prisoners, but one with such a high profile..standard Autobot protocol dictated that such an individual had to be transported immediately to the high council for interrogation and sentencing – any average soldier such as herself or Bumblebee or Bulkhead would never have to hear of him again if that was the case.

That would be one less Decepticon in the universe.

But there was no high council on Earth, _they_ were their own judges, juries and executioners, should it come to that. So what would happen next? The inner workings of the high council were kept quiet even to them. So what dictated the next course of action? Optimus would no doubt draw the line _somewhere_ – surely even _he_ wouldn't consider giving Starscream the freedom to roam around the base, or converse with them, or, Primus forbid, _join_ them.

Arcee figured if it had been any other lowly drone, worker or generic soldier, the whole situation wouldn't have been so controversial, but that wasn't the case. She internally hoped, above all things that no matter what, Optimus would remember Starscream was, primarily, Megatron's second-in-command for a reason – a high profile, unpredictable Decepticon with a notorious streak for treachery.

But she believed in Optimus as a leader, as the rest of the team did. He would not make that mistake, surely, she was sure of it. And as she placed the scraps she'd been carrying on Ratchet's workbench, she had managed to convince herself of that fact, choosing to ignore any could-be signs and blindly trust in him as she'd always done.

She watched as Bumblebee and Ratchet shifted the seeker onto the repair berth, his vocaliser letting out a groan of pain as his receptors became more aware. Optimus and Bulkhead, she noticed, had also arrived in the room.

As Ratchet hooked several monitors to Starscream's body, Optimus spoke up.

"Will he make it, Ratchet?"

Without pausing his search for some object Arcee wasn't sure of, he replied, "I can't say for certain. The damage is bad, I'll admit, and he's lost a lot of energon. But the blast's impact managed to cauterise most of his wounds and..given time, should he make it through a full solar cycle from now..he will".

Optimus nodded, moving forward to get a better look at the semi-conscious seeker, seemingly considering something to say, before sighing and speaking to Ratchet.

"Do what you must. I want you to notify me if anything else changes".

Ratchet nodded as Optimus left the repair bay, turning to work on preparing the seeker's body for repairs. Noticing that everyone else was still there watching, he made a pointed look towards them.

"Unless you all have nothing better to do for the next few hours, I suggest you leave me to my work. This operation requires my utmost concentration, and I'm afraid it'll hold nothing for you in entertainment value should you choose to stay – well, go on, shoo!" he nudged, not really giving them much choice.

Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead left, the latter sliding the door to the repair bay shut, and they walked down the corridor in silence, not really sure what to say to each other, until Bulkhead finally piped up, vocalising the question that was on all their minds.

"So..what do we do now?".

No one answered for a moment, before Bumblebee bleeped a response.

"_What we always do, I guess"._

"And that would be..?" Arcee asked, trailing off.

"_Wait for something to happen"._

"Oh yeah, like what?" Bulkhead wondered. "It's not like any thing's gonna change because we caught one 'Con".

Arcee shrugged.

"Bulkhead is right. Megatron wouldn't have tried to terminate Starscream unless he had someone else on the sidelines to fill the empty spot".

"Hmph, three guesses who?" Bulkhead questioned rhetorically, not to anyone in particular.

Without a doubt the first name to pop up at that thought was Soundwave's, after all, it was the most simple and logical choice.

Deep down however, Arcee wasn't sure it was at all that simple.

**End Chapter Two**

Righty-oh, so that marks the end of the 'introductory' chapters. From here on I believe things will start picking up, if not in the third chapter then definitely the fourth. But in all seriousness, I can say for certain there won't be an update until after next Friday for sure, so that's just a heads up. Anyway, feel free to leave a review, and as always constructive criticism is very much appreciated - anything on characterisation is particularly welcome :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary:** Megatron's greatest failure was in the hands of the Autobots. Scorned and broken, Starscream vows to have his revenge while the Autobots begin to uncover a dark truth between the Decepticon Warlord and his Second-In-Command.

**A/N: **I know, I know, it's been a while. It wasn't my intention to take this long but in truth this chapter caused me a bit of trouble, as I hadn't completely considered the 'human children' factor into the whole scheme of things (and it didn't feel right writing them off - though things would've picked up more quickly if I could). So as a heads up, if you feel this chapter is a bit rushed or awkward or not quite right, I know. Also if anyone is reading this note, there has been a summary change. As far as I have planned, the new summary will much better suit the direction I'm heading towards, and boy do I have a crazy thing or two in store!

**Chapter Three:**

It wasn't much later that day when they had come across a flaw in their plan, the first of many she as well as the others perceived. With Ratchet locked away in his med-bay operating on the seeker, Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee were left to the sole counsel of Optimus who, considering the circumstances, seemed to be handling everything well enough.

By 'everything' of course, that meant their plethora of blunt questions which he skillfully managed to avoid answering at that particular time, for his own reasons.

"Where will he stay?", "Who's going to babysit him?", "How long will this go on?" they'd all asked as they met Optimus in the main control room who judging by the expression on his face, more than expected their synchronised reactions.

And Optimus would reply in a firm but calm tone, "All will be answered in due time" - it was a promise they knew he'd keep his word to. "I intend to explain everything once everyone is here – I do not wish to repeat this on two separate occasions".

"Everyone?" Bulkhead asked, incredulously. "You mean the kids too?".

Optimus gave a brief nod.

Arcee shared an uncertain look with Bumblebee.

"Optimus, with all due respect, wouldn't it be _safer_ if we left Jack, Miko and Raf out of this?" she offered, knowing well enough – as did her team mates – of the humans' unpredictability. The last thing they wanted was an incident on their hands because of a careless action made on their part. All things considered, it was their job as guardians to protect their human charges from danger. No matter how they looked at it, and reluctantly no matter how it was looked at by Agent Fowler and the government, should anything happen to the children, they would be at fault - she wasn't entirely sure if it was worth taking the risk.

Bumblebee nodded in agreement.

"_If they knew, I'd bet a week's worth of energon rations that they'd deliberately go and search for trouble"._

"Make it double for Miko" Bulkhead added.

Optimus replied after they'd said their piece.

"I understand where you're all coming from" he started, "but considering the amount of time they spend with us, I find it highly unlikely that they would not eventually discover Starscream, either from us or of their own wanderings.

"No, I would prefer it that they know of our situation, if only so that we can place definitive boundaries and rules to prevent any harm from being inflicted upon them. Their own safety under our supervision I can vouch for, but if they were to stumble across Starscream without our knowledge and provoke him in such a way...I believe none of us could rest easy knowing we could have prevented it".

"I wouldn't put it past the kids to do something like that.." Arcee thought out loud.

"_Wouldn't Starscream be kept well away from them though, say, shackled to a wall with stasis cuffs, behind bars and everything?" _Bumblebee joked.

"I wouldn't put it past Starscream to find a way out of those too" Bulkhead replied and shrugged. "Anything to cause some trouble".

"Regardless of what may or may not happen," Optimus spoke up once more, drowning out the inevitable banter, "We cannot take the risk in not informing them".

"All right, so what do you want us to do?" Bulkhead asked.

"Inform them yourselves as you bring them back to the base. Keep it succinct – I will answer any questions personally when they arrive".

/\/\/\/\

And so it began.

Arcee was parked in her usual spot, waiting for Jack to emerge from the school building's doors. Bumblebee remained silent in his place not too far off from her position, and Bulkhead stayed parked alongside the curb due to his size.

Approximately two minutes until the school bell rang.

"Hey 'Cee?" Bulkhead piped up, with a somewhat inquisitive tone in his voice.

"Hmm?" she responded, letting him know she was listening.

"How are you planning to break the news to Jack?".

"Well," she started, thinking for a moment. "I guess I'm just going to tell him as it is. There's no use in skipping around it".

"Really?".

"Really. I'm certain Jack can handle it" she concluded. After a brief moment of silence she spoke up once more.

"You okay Bulk?".

He exhaled a heavy sigh.

"I don't know, 'Cee".

When he didn't speak again, Arcee inquired further.

"Do..you want to talk about it?".

Arcee wasn't the closest one to Bulkhead out of the group, but it wasn't an entirely new occurrence seeing him in one of his low moods, and perhaps not quite coincidentally, they happened to revolve around his own human charge, Miko. She couldn't speak for Bumblebee on that particular case, but in all honesty Arcee couldn't blame Bulkhead for feeling the way he did – it looked as if he was holding so much back when it came to looking after her.

That wasn't to say he was aggressive or anything, quite the opposite actually. It seemed he was just..afraid of hurting Miko's feelings. There was no doubt he cared for his charge as much as any of them did for theirs, but for Bulkhead it seemed to be difficult combating his oddly gentle nature against Miko's own stubbornness. It was evident it had come to the point where Bulkhead held almost no authority over her and Miko was the one who made all the moves.

_'Of course, that wouldn't be a problem if it didn't put _her_ in danger half the time..'_ Arcee thought, but kept that opinion to herself.

After a moment, Bulkhead spoke up with an agitated tone, "I just don't know how Miko's going to react to this".

"Oh?".

"I mean, I _know_ I can tell her, but every time I picture it in my head, she just goes off and does something that'll get herself hurt, or worse!".

"Well you heard what Optimus said," she tried to console, hearing her team mate's voice edge on the point of frustration. "We're doing this to prevent that from happening – have you talked to him about it?".

"..I may have dropped a hint or two".

"Then you know he's got it under control" she stated simply.

"Yeah, like 'Miko' and 'control' could ever go in the same sentence" he laughed nervously, as if trying to shake his mood off. "I don't know, maybe I'm just over thinking it?".

"Hey, don't worry yourself over it," Arcee said reassuringly. "It'll turn out fine in the end. Optimus will make sure of it, and so will we".

Before Bulkhead could reply, the school bell rang and the bustle and yells of thankful teenage students emitted from the grounds. As the front doors flung open, Bulkhead uttered a hushed "I'll talk to you later" before becoming silent once more.

Even with the racket of human children surrounding her, it seemed all too quiet as she waited for Jack to arrive. In all honesty she wanted to get this ordeal over and done with, so that everything could go back to what it was, like nothing ever happened. Give her a mission here and there, scout another location, intercept an energon trail, and Starscream would be forgotten, left to the recesses of her mind if not completely removed from it. After all if she wasn't left at the base to babysit (which she assumed would be Ratchet's job for the most part), Starscream wouldn't be her problem. And as far as she was concerned, as long as she maintained that semblance of normality, then it would rarely have to be her problem.

'_If only Cliff was here to see _this. _Primus, he'd never let us live it down…' _she thought.

She could just imagine him, with an incredulous expression on his face, speaking in his 'are you serious?' tone, _"Woah woah back up. Let me get this straight: you let that two-faced slagging Deceptiscum Starscream into the base? Alive? And now you're repairing him? ...Are you out of your slagging mind!"_.

Hearing a familiar patter of footsteps, she brought herself out of her reverie and turned her attention to Jack as he casually walked over to her, reaching for his helmet while uttering a greeting.

"Hey Arcee".

"Hey yourself" she replied. "Busy day?".

"Just the usual" he shrugged as he swung a leg over the seat, reaching over to grab both handlebars. "Anything new with you?".

She replied as she took her usual route to the base.

"Yep, and I can't guarantee you'll like it".

After a brief moment of silence, Jack spoke up again.

"Well, are you going to tell me? Or is it 'need to know' only or..something?".

_'If only it were'_ she thought, while turning onto the highway and driving towards the direction of the base.

"Sure thing, if you can promise me you'll stay calm".

She couldn't see his expression, but could hear the uncertainty in his voice and feel the nervous tension in his grip.

"O..kay? Is it that bad?".

Bad? No, no it wouldn't change much for Jack. If all went according to what Optimus had in mind, Arcee was sure it would be as if she'd said nothing at all.

"You tell me" she started. "We're keeping Starscream captive inside the base for an undetermined period of time" she said without hesitation. "For your safety, we were instructed to tell you so you'd know there'll be certain boundaries put in place from now on".

She was certain Jack had heard her, but didn't know whether he was choosing not to answer or was thinking of something to say.

Finally, after a minute of hearing nothing but the wind whipping past her, Jack uttered a disbelieving "What?".

She let out an airy laugh, relieved she hadn't traumatised him in some way.

"Yeah, tell me about it".

But Jack refused to let the subject matter go.

"Wait wait wait, hold up for a second, I'm being serious!" he insisted. "Let me get this straight. You have who in the base?".

"Starscream" she answered.

"The Decepticon?".

"Is there any other?" she questioned.

"And..there was no fight? No struggle? Anything?" he continued.

Arcee sighed.

"Let's put it this way: by the time we got to him, there wasn't much 'fight' left".

Jack seemed confused at this statement.

"What do you mean?".

"Megatron scrapped him" she said brusquely, in a tone that warned him not to ask about the particulars.

"Sooo..none of you got hurt?".

"No".

"Okay..and you're keeping him for...information? Leverage?".

"The former, as far as we know – if Megatron intended to scrap him for good, he wouldn't have any use for him".

"So he's alive?".

"Only just".

"And he's just going to _give_ you information?" Jack asked with a disbelieving tone.

"I don't know".

"How can you guarantee he won't lie to you?".

"I don't know" she stated more firmly.

"Well how do you know this isn't just some sort of trap-".

"Jack, _listen_ to me" she finally spoke above him, raising her voice. Jack immediately quietened, but she could hear his heart beating slightly faster from his momentary rush. "We don't know anything for certain, but Optimus has decided to take this chance and see where it goes. There are no guarantees we'll get _anything_ out of this, but if there's one thing we can be sure of, it's ensuring _your_ safety".

"But-".

"'But' _nothing_" she interjected. "Optimus promised he'd answer any of your questions when you arrive at the base, and I've said too much already. You'll just have to wait for a bit longer if you want to take it up with him".

_'And maybe then we can _all_ get some answers ourselves'_ she added to herself.

As she arrived at the base and passed the hidden door obscuring the ground entrance, she realised she may have been just a bit too harsh in getting her point across, because Jack had not uttered a single word since then.

She sighed, continuing her drive towards the base's headquarters.

"Look kiddo," she started. "I'd be more than happy to tell you what you want, but the fact is _none of us_ know the details ourselves – we know little more than you do about it".

Her honest admission seemed to bring him out of his mood.

"No, look, it's..it's not your fault. I was getting ahead of myself. I'm – I'm just worried, okay?" he admitted hesitantly. "I guess I don't like _not_ knowing what's going to happen next".

Arcee smiled to herself.

"You and me both, Jack" she said softly. "So, are we okay?".

She could practically hear Jack's smile in his voice as he replied, "Yeah, we're okay".

Making a full stop near the centre of the base's headquarters where Bumblebee and Raf were waiting, she waited for Jack to climb off before she transformed into her bipedal mode.

Bumblebee bleeped a greeting, and Raf smiled up at her.

"Hey 'Bee. Where's Bulkhead?" she asked, smiling back at Raf.

Bumblebee shrugged, _"He said he was on the way-"_.

He stopped as they all heard the distinct sound of an engine echoing from the entrance.

"_That must be him now"._

Not three seconds later, Bulkhead appeared from the large doorway, letting Miko step out to join Jack and Raf. But it wasn't Bulkhead's mood that surprised them as much as Miko's did.

Smiling widely, her eyes wild, she shouted out loud to no one in particular, "Woohoo! So, who's ready to kick some Decepticon butt?".

As she made her way to Jack and Raf, Bulkhead shook his head in temporary forfeit.

"_Well at least she's doing okay..right?"_ Bumblebee asked rhetorically to Arcee, while they met Bulkhead halfway as he walked towards them.

"So, how'd it go Bulk?" Arcee asked, curious to know exactly what he'd said to induce _this_ mood from her.

"Well..it didn't go the way I thought it would?" he offered, somewhat avoiding the matter. "I mean when I told her and she didn't react for a second, I thought everything was going good..." he trailed off, reaching around to grasp the back of his neck nervously.

"_And..?"_ Bumblebee edged on.

"And..." Bulkhead continued, shaking his head. "It went good. Too good. She wouldn't stop going on about how she was gunna get back at him".

"What, for what happened in the mine?" Arcee asked.

"Yeah".

"_'Cause _that'll_ go well"_ Bumblebee commented. _"I guess we'll have to keep an optic on them, boundaries or no boundaries"._

"Like we didn't before?" Bulkhead replied, playfully nudging Bumblebee on his shoulder, causing him to protest.

"_Hey!"_.

The sound of heavy feet clanging against the floor made them stop and straighten up, as they turned simultaneously to see Optimus walking towards them, his face passive as he greeted them.

Not one to miss an opportunity, Miko waved enthusiastically as she ran forward towards him, catching his attention.

"Hey Optimus?" she shouted, though he could've heard her just as well had she used a quieter voice.

He was patient as he replied, "Yes, Miko?".

Without missing a beat she pleaded, "Can we see him? Please please please? I promise we won't touch anything!".

Jack and Raf widened their eyes, Raf shifting his eyes to the floor nervously as Jack shook his head in objection.

"Woah, wait a minute Miko. 'We'? 'We' didn't agree on anything" he said, before quickly turning to Optimus with his hands open in front of him defensively. "Raf and I had no part in this".

Miko whined, "Aww, come on? Besides," she said, turning to Optimus while flipping out her phone, "It'll make one hell of an awesome memory, huh?".

Optimus sighed after a moment, "I'm afraid not, Miko. Not this time".

"Aww, why not?" she insisted.

Oh, so she was in one of _those_ moods, the kind of mood where it was hard to reason with her in any way – and Optimus could see it too. But his resolve was final, putting his foot down, so to speak, on this affair.

"It is simply a matter of privacy, and Decepticon or not, I cannot allow you to take advantage of his state of well-being".

"Bu-".

"I'm sorry Miko, but this time especially, no means no" he said sternly, but not harshly.

The girl heaved out a low "Fine", before crossing her arms and pouting with attitude.

"And that goes to _all_ of you" Optimus elaborated, looking at both Jack and Raf, and finally at his soldiers, who were listening attentively. "To whoever disregards this warning, whether it be human or Autobot, the consequences will be severe.

"I understand it may be difficult in this case, but for the mean time I need all of you to cooperate to ensure everything goes smoothly. We cannot afford to make a mistake" he continued, before turning to address the humans. "As such, the repair bay is temporarily off limits to the three of you in particular, unless you are accompanied by one of us – who, I should add, do not have a reason to be there unless otherwise instructed" he further specified as he looked to Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee.

"_You don't need to tell us twice"_ Bumblebee reassured.

Optimus nodded curtly.

"Until Ratchet can repair Starscream to a functional state, we cannot determine his motives for certain".

"He seemed pretty upset when we tried to help him" Arcee shrugged. "It was obvious he didn't want our help then – I doubt he'd want it now".

"We cannot make that judgement based on his vulnerability" Optimus countered.

"What about on his body count?" Bulkhead dared to suggest, at which Miko widened her eyes in curiosity.

"Bulkhead.." Optimus warned.

"What? It's not like you can just _forget_ about it. Besides, I knew a number of 'Bots who would've _loved_ to get their hands on him" he said, while cracking his knuckles.

"Be that as it may, we must try to put that behind us for now. I will deal with it when the time comes, that I can assure you of".

"Well, what about our energon rations? We're running thin as it is with just the five of us" Arcee said with a hint of concern in her voice, despite her attempt to conceal it.

"I am well aware of that. At the moment, finding enough energon to sustain an extra individual as well as ourselves is, and will be our top priority for the following weeks".

"Weeks, as in more than one?" Bulkhead questioned, his optics widening.

"As long as it takes to get what we need" Optimus replied.

"_And if we don't?"_ Bumblebee asked.

Both Autobots and humans looked to Optimus, waiting for his answer, the base completely devoid of noise which made the moment seem to stretch even longer.

Finally, Optimus replied.

"We'll deal with it, _if_ the situation arises".

/\/\/\/\

_'"If the situation arises". He must have something in mind to be so sure it won't happen'_ Arcee thought, standing by the monument to her fallen partner.

Optimus had dismissed them to speak to Jack, Miko and Raf privately not too soon afterwards, so they had no choice but to part ways for a short while. She didn't really know she would end up where she did, but what mattered was that she could spend some time to herself in peace, alone, without being disturbed or hassled.

And so there she was, wondering when it would all fall apart – and she was so certain, so adamant that it would.

She didn't know how anyone could imply the whole thing was under control, that every possible outcome had been considered and dealt with. _She_ for one could think of a dozen different outcomes, and more.

But it wasn't up to them to decide that. And so became the overall consensus: if Optimus deemed it necessary, then _they_ would deem it as necessary. No matter how much they hated it. No matter how much they could suffer for it.

If they were so blinded by their own prejudice that they could not make a rational and fair decision, enough so that Optimus had to choose for them, then so be it. And she was fine with that, really, she would not argue. They could not "afford to make a mistake" after all.

But the scariest thing about it? - Not that she'd ever admit that to anyone – was that she wasn't even sure what she wanted any more. Not on the basic level, no, that was too easy. She could easily say she wanted their own side to win the war. She could easily say that she didn't want Starscream with them, hell, any of the others could and would say the same things! But curse that thought at the back of her processor asking her, _'At what cost? At what cost should this war be won?'_.

_'Risking everything on a Decepticon, _that's_ the slagging cost'_.

And to top it off, she knew there was no turning back now. What was done was done, and that was the end of it. Starscream was stuck with them, and they were stuck with Starscream. Optimus wouldn't dare think of going back on it, not when they were seemingly so close to the ever-hoped-for victory they needed now more than ever.

Moving a hand to rest on the only remaining memento of Cliffjumper, she spoke quietly out loud, "Jack was right, you know. It's never easy not knowing what's going to happen next".

She brushed her fingertips over the broken horn.

"But we'll manage, just like we always have.." she paused, turning her head to look out at the dimming landscape.

"And we'll do what we have to do, to make sure we finish this, once and for all. Whatever it takes".

_'Whatever it takes'_ she reflected, hugging her arms loosely around her waist, dreading the possibility of having to lose any more than they'd already lost.

She hoped it didn't have to come to that.

**End Chapter Three:**

So that's that for chapter 3. Again, if it weren't for the 'children' factor, Starscream would've certainly made an appearance. But with that said, the next chapter will definitely feature him and, gasp! An advancement in the plot, hurrah! Thank you to all who've read and reviewed so far, you guys are super-duper awesome! Finally, I hope y'all are enjoying your holidays and have a spectacular New Year :) Stay tuned for the next installment!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I know, I know, I realise it's been a few months since the last update. It wasn't my intention to take so long, so y'all deserve an explanation. The first version of this chapter got off on a wrong start and made the plot go absolutely nowhere, so it was only late last month I scrapped that 6000 plus word chapter and re-wrote a new one in just two weeks. That's honestly it, I haven't given up on this story or anything. With that said, I won't delay any longer – I hope this chapter is to your liking. Enjoy :)

**Chapter Four:**

_Rules get bent – but just this once._

/\/\/\/\/\

Two solar cycles passed without another word about Starscream, and perhaps, Arcee thought, it was better off that way, even if it was only really prolonging the inevitable. And without further news (though they were certain he was still alive), the hype and disturbance caused by his arrival eventually died down to the point of non-existence. That wasn't to say the whole thing didn't linger as a small, nagging thought in the back of their processors, and it was evident as well in the faces of their three human charges who, despite trying to hide their curiosity, often implied an interest in the status of their 'guest'.

Too bad for them they didn't budge an inch – but really, what could they tell them that they didn't already know?

And Ratchet, what could they say about Ratchet, really? He was practically a ghost, sometimes seen collecting his energon rations (and more, on occasion), or flitting about through the corridors as if he was on a mission, but not once did they believe he had left the premises of his repair bay for anything else, not even for a break, if he was taking any. Though they were sure Ratchet would never admit it to them, they figured that some part of him, however small, was helplessly enjoying the work he was given.

Not that any of them would question Ratchet's importance to the team or anything, but they knew Ratchet well enough to know he liked to be useful, no matter what the situation – like helping the kids out with their projects (though to be honest it really was more like 'commandeering' their projects). Even though this particular situation involved using resources up rather than creating more for use, it still kept him occupied, and to an extent probably even content with the fact he was making the most of his medical expertise.

Apart from that, the usual duties that'd been performed on a day-to-day basis were still being completed as if nothing was wrong, which was comforting to say the least to Arcee. She much preferred to spend her hours away from the base performing external duties, and unsurprisingly Bumblebee had taken the same lead, though perhaps with less spirit. Bulkhead seemed to be the least fazed and had even volunteered to undertake internal duties, which had initially caused some suspicion amongst them due to his initial anger towards Starscream, but upon further investigation they realised it was merely to keep a closer optic on Miko lest she decide to sneak off.

And if Optimus had picked up on their collective disappearances (which Arcee was sure he had, as nothing had escaped his attention in the past), he didn't mention it at all. They were grateful for that, seeking solace with the fact that Optimus understood their need for space or time to settle things, even though nothing much had really happened or changed of late since Starscream arrived – it was just their own way of dealing with it without causing any trouble.

It was the middle of the third solar cycle since then, and she and Bulkhead had just returned from their respective scouting rounds with no luck. Unlike her, Bulkhead had to go prepare for another trip with Optimus while she had to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening minding the ground bridge _and_ watching over the kids. Which wasn't to say her day had been lacking in external duties, not with her entire morning being filled with those, but despite the fact that she (most of the time) enjoyed the company of the human children – Jack especially – she still felt that unquenchable need to be anywhere _but_ their base.

_'But everyone has to do this sooner or later,'_ she reasoned with herself, referring to in-base duties. Ratchet would've normally been the one to do it while the rest went out, but of course, that couldn't be possible at that moment. She naturally had to wonder when he _would_ be done so they could focus solely on their energon problem instead – intel or no intel, they weren't going to defeat the Decepticons with an empty fuel tank.

Jack and Raf were leaning on the railings up on the upper level of their headquarters where they spent their time playing games, looking down at the lower level while Miko was with Bulkhead, who was taking her time to say her farewells; Bumblebee was, at that moment, away from the base in the middle of his own rounds.

"Now don't cause _any_ trouble, ya hear?" Bulkhead could be heard saying.

"Don't worry Bulk, you can count on me!" she replied happily, as Bulkhead removed her from his shoulder and placed her on the ground.

From one of the corridors, Optimus appeared, heading over to Arcee after briefly surveying the scene.

"Optimus," she greeted as she leaned back on the ground bridge's control console, "So, where to?"

He entered some coordinates into the console and the corresponding map zoomed in on the location.

"A mountainous range, located in a place humans call 'Canada'" he replied, downloading the data for reference.

"Looks cold," Arcee commented, noting the snow covering the tops of the mountains.

"It would seem that way," he said, "But it's nothing compared to the Arctic's conditions at the present moment."

"Better for us," Bulkhead stated as he joined in the conversation. "At least we won't have to worry about freezing our tailpipes off."

"Agreed, this way at least we can cover more ground."

"So, when can I expect to bridge you guys back?" Arcee asked, pressing a few buttons on the console before reaching for the lever.

"It may take some time, depending on the circumstances. I expect it should be no longer than three earth hours, but we will keep you updated as we move along," Optimus said, both he and Bulkhead moving towards the large tunnel where the portal would appear.

She pulled the lever down, and the usual resounding hum of the ground bridge echoed throughout the room.

"I'll be here," she replied casually, watching them pass through the portal safely before manually pulling the lever back up. By that time, Miko had walked up and joined Jack and Raf on the upper level, pulling out her drawing book and starting a sketch – of what, Arcee couldn't see.

"So," Jack started once the base was quiet again, "What have we got planned for today?"

"Nothing much," Arcee replied, tapping away at some keys. "I've got things to do, and _you_ three have to stay put."

She knew it wasn't the answer he was hoping for – it had been a while since they got to spend some time together like they used to, and she could see the disappointment on his features every time she had to shut him down. She'd promised him a few solar cycles ago, before the whole Starscream dilemma, that she would take him out for their usual drive around the area. Unfortunately, things had become busy since then, so she'd had to postpone it until a more suitable time arrived. It was just too bad that it didn't look as if things would let up any time soon, but she was grateful that Jack seemed to understand that and didn't insist on anything she didn't have time for.

Jack shrugged, "I guess it's video games and snacks again, Raf."

The shorter kid adjusted his glasses, "I'm not complaining."

Out of the corner of her vision, Arcee saw the boys set up their video game while she opened up one of many reports on-screen and had a quick browse of its contents.

_'Dated back to three weeks ago...energon mine, recently cleared..no signs or readings indicating leftover scraps,'_ she noted as she flicked through the outline. _'Tell me something I don't know.'_

She jumped through a few more reports until she randomly chose a more recent one to open, dating to roughly a week ago. Not surprisingly, it outlined the exact same thing. She closed the file, refusing to browse through them any more when she knew they all had the exact same thing to say. It was frustrating to say the least, and it hardly helped keep up whatever of their morale was left.

"Hey, Arcee?" Jack hesitantly called out.

She looked to him and saw that all three of the humans were staring at her quizzically.

"Are you..feeling okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she replied, suddenly curious.

"It's just.." he looked to Raf and Miko, the latter who shrugged at him, "Well, you seem a bit..tense."

"Tense?" she repeated, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Yeah – I mean, you're quiet, I guess. More than you usually are," he said, somewhat losing what initial confidence he had. "Are you sure you can't take a break? You know, relax a bit?"

"It can't hurt to try?" Raf helped out with a small smile.

"And no one else has to know, promise," Miko assured unexpectedly.

"I won't get into trouble for taking one if I need to," Arcee explained.

"Then what's stopping you?" Miko asked curiously. "It's not like there's anything important you really _really_ have to do right now, right?"

"Miko, it hasn't even been 30 minutes into my shift. I'm not taking a break now," she insisted – she wasn't going to break her routine on a request (albeit a very prospective request).

"Well, if you change your mind, we'll be right here," Raf said, and Jack gave her a lopsided smile before they all returned to their previous activities.

Arcee stared past a point on the monitor, trying to place the conversation behind her. That was definitely the last thing she needed at that moment to keep her focused on her own tasks. Luckily for her, she managed to put it past her long enough to get through several minor maintenance issues, as well as a stock-check for their energon, and making sure that all reports for their missions and Decepticon encounters were all accounted for in the database – she still had to go through a week's worth of scouting logs however to make sure all those reports had been uploaded onto the database.

Two and a half hours passed, and by then she'd received two updates on Optimus' and Bulkhead's scouting round. The first detailed that they'd discovered nothing out of the ordinary while surveying the area, but that they would have to take extra caution not to disturb the natural environment, to which she could've sworn Bulkhead said something about bumping into trees. The second proved to be somewhat more interesting, though its vagueness made it that less appealing than what she'd initially thought – they'd discovered a small anomaly, a short way off their intended course, and had gone astray to check it out. Since then, there had been no further news, but she hadn't received that update too long ago, and so she anticipated the next update to be later rather than sooner.

Bumblebee had also contacted the base once, if only to say that he'd had no luck and would contact her in about 30 minutes for a bridge. She could wait until then, she thought, before she took a well earned break.

_'At least then Bumblebee could cover for me,'_ she thought, closing the report she'd had on screen to clench and relax her stiff fingers. She turned her head for what seemed like the first time in a long time to take a brief glance at the children, who were all accounted for and heavily absorbed with the game on screen. Miko was sitting in the middle of the couch, slumped back against the cushions while the boys on either side of her were leaning forward, busy mashing the tiny buttons on their controllers and enthusiastically (if not ridiculously) waving them about.

Unlike Bumblebee, she didn't have much interest for actively participating in the humans' forms of entertainment. Admittedly, though her team-mate looked like he enjoyed most of their leisure activities and undertook them whenever possible for his own enjoyment, Arcee much preferred to 'keep her head in the game', so to speak. She couldn't _truly_ relax when there was still a war to win, especially when they were on the disadvantaged side – well, there was that one time she indulged in _one_ race against that human..Vince, she remembered Jack saying? But _that_ wasn't so much as 'fun' as it was a personal sense of victory.

Besides, it wasn't really her thing, she convinced herself, even as she found herself struggling to remove her attention from the small screen.

_'Alright, enough with the distractions. Back to work,'_ she told herself, drawing her eyes back to the main computer, her fingers automatically moving to press the keys in a familiar rhythm.

She pulled up the remaining reports from the previous week, checking through the data for each day to make sure it had uploaded correctly – that was always the trouble with using modified human technology, unfortunately.

She'd come to Wednesday and monotonously started flicking through the reports.

_'Bulkhead, check. Me, check. Bumblebee, check. Optimus and Me, check. Bulkhead...'_ she trailed off, as she came across the blank file. Curiously, she flicked to the next one and found the same problem, and the next one, and the next, all the way to the end of Wednesday's rounds. Thursday's were logged just fine, however, and so were the rest following Thursday.

_'Scrap, must've been some sort of glitch in the system,'_ she thought, keeping a mental note to mention it to Optimus. She reckoned she may as well place her own data back into the system while she had the time to do so, but that meant having to leave her post – and consequently the kids – while she left to grab her scanner from her quarters on which the original data was stored.

But she could trust them to stay put, couldn't she? They hadn't caused any trouble or any particular fuss while she was working. Miko was certainly in one of her more level-headed moods, and Jack and Raf had always been complacent and reasonable enough since she'd met them – there was no question of their behaviour.

With that in mind, she stepped back from the console and approached the kids.

Jack noticed her first, as Miko and Raf were playing against each other.

"Hey, finally deciding to join us?" he asked, standing up and moving to the rails to meet her.

"Sorry Jack," she crossed her arms, motioning with her head to one of the corridors. "Have to go and pick up something first. Think you can handle yourself for a few?"

He took a second to process what she was saying.

"Sure," he started, somewhat befuddled. "Are you sure you can do that?"

"Why not?" she replied. "Just don't do anything you know you're not supposed to – or else the _both_ of us will have to answer to Optimus."

"Point taken."

"Miko, Raf, that goes the same for you too," she called out.

"Yeah, yeah-", "Got it!-" Miko and Raf said simultaneously without taking their eyes off their game.

With that, she stepped back and transformed into her vehicle mode, speeding off down the right-hand corridor that led to where most of the team members' quarters were located.

Her quarters, as well as Bumblebee's, were located close to each others', at least in comparison to where Bulkhead's in particular was. Bulkhead could be a _loud_ recharger sometimes, but even if it wasn't for that, it was his sheer size that forced him to find his personal accommodations that far from his fellow teammates'; Optimus' was further along their corridor, while Ratchet preferred to keep to his repair bay.

She arrived at her door, sliding it open and walking towards the makeshift bench she had situated along the back-right corner of the small, square-shaped room. On it lay most of her personal effects – the items she would usually take with her on any sort of mission. Opposite of that bench along the back-left corner of the room was her recharge berth, as well as a bedside storage container for any personal items she would rather not have in plain sight nor carry with her on the field. Most of the items she'd always kept on her when she'd been fighting on Cybertron had been placed in there, items that were of no consequence or sentimentality to anyone but her.

Items, data, recordings, and holographic image projectors containing still images of people and places on Cybertron, her home, close acquaintances and the friends she'd had, everything preserved from an era before the war had started – but she was getting off track, she realised.

Her attention returned to the items before her, picking up her scanner and activating it to double-check if the data was indeed still stored on it. Satisfied that it was, she quickly took the same route back towards the control room, not truly at peace until she saw that the main console was still operating and intact, that nothing had exploded or was on fire, and that Jack and Raf were still there, exactly as she had left them-

_'Wait a minute,'_ she thought, her processor almost freezing with sudden realisation.

_'Miko. Where the hell is Miko?,'_ she slowly looked around the room, in case her optics were playing a trick on her and she'd missed the girl the first time.

When she saw Jack nervously stand up however, her fears were confirmed.

"Jack.." she started with unconcealed reprehension.

"Arcee, it's not what it looks like," he tried to assure, placing his hands up defensively. If he had _any_ idea of what she was thinking at that moment..but no, she forced herself to remain calm. They wouldn't just let Miko run off like that, not after her infamous reputation for causing trouble wherever she ended up.

She vented out warm air, "Alright, I'm listening, but you better talk fast."

Raf walked up from behind Jack to join them, leaning against the rails.

"She said she needed to use the bathroom," the smaller kid shrugged.

"The bathroom?" Arcee repeated sceptically, "And you believed her?"

Jack and Raf gave each other uneasy looks.

"Well.." Raf started, looking towards Jack who completed the sentence for him.

"She said it was..'girl problems'," he explained. "What were we supposed to do?"

Arcee sighed heavily, placing a hand to her head at the sudden processor ache.

"Okay, fine. It's not your fault," she finally admitted, "But bathroom or not, I need to find her."

"We can help," Raf suggested. "It's..kind of our fault too – we could've told her to wait until you got back."

"No, I need the both of you to stay here in case anyone tries to contact the base – _or_ on the off chance Miko happens to come back."

She stepped back from the rails, transforming into her vehicle mode before speeding down the left-hand corridor.

"Besides, I think I know just where to look."

/\/\/\/\/\

Optimus was in the lead, scaling up several upturned rocks along a lowly ascending slope while Bulkhead followed closely behind at a similar pace. The size of their frames, where once a disadvantage in the thick dense forest they'd been traversing through moments ago, was definitely advantageous in the cleared area they were in now.

The landscape was haggard and destroyed: uprooted trees lay along the border of the forest the Decepticons had not cleared while some remaining roots stuck up from the ground; the soil was loose and soft under their heavy feet, with grasses and plants crushed and mixed within the particles; large rocks still had chunks of earth clinging to their base and were haphazardly organised in the visible area.

"How long to go?" Bulkhead asked from behind him, carefully attempting to find his footing on the unstable ground.

Optimus looked up ahead, seeing a well-sized clearing before the mountainside.

"Just a bit further," he replied, finally stepping up on a horizontal surface, turning only to help Bulkhead up the last few steps.

"Woah," Bulkhead vocalised, noting the large cave dug out from the mountainside, "The 'Cons have been busy."

"It would seem so."

They both approached the cave, taking care to step cautiously and make as little sound as possible – on their scanners, a faint signal pinged from somewhere within the cave. Whatever it was that had lead them there was still there.

With their arms transformed into their respective ranged weapons, they expertly surveyed the area before deeming it clear. Upon closer investigation though, they noticed several distinctive shapes printed along the surface of the ground.

Bulkhead motioned towards a spot by his feet.

"Look here: footprints, and plenty of 'em."

Optimus took note of their pattern.

"Miners, Decepticon workers. But why are they so clustered?"

"Who knows? - Hey, check it out," Bulkhead said, pointing over to a spot by the entrance of the cave. "Those prints sure look like energon containers."

Optimus nodded.

"There is no doubt this area was excavated for the purpose of energon extraction."

Bulkhead looked around further, confused about something.

"I don't get it though: How come there aren't many prints like those over there? For a mine this size, there had to be more than _that_."

The signal flared once again on their scanners.

"I believe our answer may lie within that cave."

Dark and ominous, the cave's entrance loomed over them as they passed through it. They'd only just taken ten steps into it before it became too dim to see with their normal vision – luckily for them, they were both equipped with a night-vision setting.

They looked at the walls, the ground, the shape of the cave itself. It was definitely carved out by the Decepticons – there was no way it was a natural formation – but it was strange; unusual. It wasn't the way they normally handled their mining operations – despite their brutality on the battleground, they still kept a semblance of coordination when it came to digging and drilling out energon locations.

But here..here it was messy. The cave walls were jagged with large extrusions covering their surface. Rock chunks littered the floor in various shapes and sizes, making it difficult to step on the ground without crushing several pieces under their feet.

"I don't like the looks of this," Bulkhead mumbled, though his voice seemed to rumble through the cave.

"Stay alert: we're almost at the signal's source."

As they neared it, the rocks beneath their feet started to feel larger, until they had to resort to pushing them away with their feet as they moved closer and closer.

And then they stopped.

"What the..?"

Optimus looked to each corner in front of him, shaking his head.

"It appears we now know why the Decepticons were so quick to leave this place".

Before them both were rocks and giant boulders, crushed against each other so that they completely obscured the passageway. By the looks of it, it was completely immoveable, locked in such a way that if anyone removed a piece from the puzzle, the whole thing would surely come down like a crushing wave.

"The whole ceiling collapsed," Bulkhead noted, observing the large cracks above where the wall was. "Whatever was here when that happened never stood a chance."

Optimus looked towards his scanner, checking once more for the source of the signal, which was faintly pinging at their exact location.

"The source of the signal is coming from below us," he said, inspecting the ground at their feet.

"What, you mean we'll have to risk _moving_ these rocks to get to it?" he asked incredulously.

Optimus nudged the rocks by his feet.

"The rocks here are only loosely settled. So long as we do not disturb the ones over there," he gestured, "We should remain unharmed."

Bulkhead looked directly up at the ceiling above them - "Watch your head, too. Any wrong move and we risk those smaller cracks opening up and collapsing over us."

With the hazards pointed out, they quickly crouched and started pushing and lifting rocks away from the spot between their feet. While Optimus lifted from the top, Bulkhead worked on pushing away the smaller rocks from the side, causing some of the rocks stockpiled on top to naturally roll down.

A moment passed where none of them spoke a word before, finally, Bulkhead uncovered something.

"Uh, Optimus?" he anxiously said, catching his attention. He lifted up a half-buried object from the ground. "Decepticon miner."

It was only an arm from the elbow joint down, to be specific, but-

"It's still intact," Optimus observed. "The body must still be buried under the remaining rubble."

"And still online," Bulkhead commented.

Optimus nodded.

"We should hurry," he said, quickly working to remove the remaining rocks.

Before long, the body finally appeared through the rubble, and then the head – the legs however were still partially buried underneath the rocks. It didn't escape their notice that there was a solid slab of rock lodged in his chest, with energon slowly but surely trickling out from around the edges of the wound.

The distinctive red visor of the Decepticon flickered for a second before stabilising. He was still alive, but it didn't look like he had very long to go.

"Easy, Bulkhead," Optimus said quietly, while Bulkhead tried to keep the worker from moving about.

The Decepticon was venting air in and out of his systems raggedly, and was struggling to speak.

"U..ugh...Autobots..should've known," he coughed out.

"Be still," Optimus said, "We mean you no harm."

"Harm?" he laughed. "W-what more..can you possibly..do to me? I'm..already dead."

Optimus shared a grim look with Bulkhead. He changed the subject.

"What happened here?"

The miner remained quiet.

Bulkhead started to put pressure on the Decepticon's body where his hands were supporting him, but Optimus stopped him.

"Bulkhead, no," he said calmly. His attention returned to the worker. "Whatever loyalties you had with the Decepticons were misplaced; they haven't returned for any that may have fallen here."

"Wouldn't be the first time.." Bulkhead mumbled under his breath.

The worker turned his head to the side, avoiding the Autobot leader's gaze.

"I can help you, but I need to know what happened here."

A brief moment passed, and the miner shook his head, clearing his vocaliser.

"Go rust in the pit."

It took all of Bulkhead's willpower not to crush the 'Con right there and then, but Optimus didn't look fazed by it. Instead, he picked up on the miner's not-so-subtle glances towards the block of wall ahead, and started to piece things together.

"From my understanding, you lost your unit in the collapse" he stated

The miner's visor momentarily dulled before flickering back to life, but still he didn't speak.

"The structural instability of the cave was obvious when you first started excavating, but the warning signs were left unheeded."

"So you lost your team members because you failed to follow your standard procedures," Bulkhead finished. "Crack; crashed and crushed, just like that-"

"We were following orders!" the worker shouted over the accusations with all his strength, but immediately started venting heavily afterwards at the exertion. Still, he didn't stop talking even as the precious final seconds of his existence started ticking away.

"We..we noticed the cracks...C-Commander..di-didn't listen..told us..t-to..keep..worki-i-ing..override..."

"Rewind for a second: who was your Commander?" Bulkhead asked.

"Told us t-to override...command..over-erride..couldn't..s-stop.."

Bulkhead shook his head, looking up at Optimus.

"He's completely gone into relapse and his vocaliser's failing; we're not getting anything out of him."

Optimus held up a hand.

"Just wait; listen."

"..Collapsed..unit..offline..di-did tell..sh—did...she..listen..sh—online..esca—cap—scaped..critical error.."

Without further struggle, the Decepticon's visor dulled to a lifeless red-black shade, and his body became limp in Bulkhead's grasp.

There was silence between them. It was never easy watching anything go – not like that at least. Still, what the worker had said left them momentarily confused, and the both of them looked to each other to see if they had indeed heard the same thing.

"You did hear what I heard, right? A 'she', with the Decepticons?" Bulkhead said.

Optimus looked away pensively, "Before now, we knew of no female officer within the Decepticon ranks here on Earth."

Bulkhead shook his head, mumbling more to himself than anything, "Since when did the 'Cons get a new team member?"

And then the realisation hit Bulkhead like a tonne of bricks, as he remembered an occurrence from the past few weeks.

"Oh, scrap."

/\/\/\/\/\

Arcee transformed into her bipedal mode as she approached the door to the repair bay with the full intention of giving that human girl a piece of her mind. It was one thing to cross her when she'd specifically ordered Jack, Raf _and_ Miko not to go anywhere (and she doubted Miko's 'girl problems', whatever that meant, were so in urgent need of attention she couldn't wait a handful of minutes to sort them out), but to cross Optimus as well after he'd warned the kids in particular to stay away from the repair bay? _That_ she couldn't stand for.

And as for Arcee herself, well, technically she'd been given no instruction to enter the repair bay, but she figured if her primary task as a guardian was to protect the kids from harm, even if it was only a potential one, then she had every reason to do what she had to do; _even_ if it meant bending a rule or two.

Without further hesitation, she slid open the doors to the repair bay and only just restrained herself from storming inside, keeping a lookout for Ratchet whom she was sure had to have seen Miko run into the room.

But strangely enough, he was nowhere to be seen, not him nor Miko.

_'Odd..I could easily say Miko was hiding around here somewhere – it _is_ darker than usual, but for Ratchet not to be in here? Maybe he's out the back recharging?'_ she thought, moving to the back-right corner of the room which led to a small (by their standards) alcove where Ratchet often created and conducted experiments and tests on various items of his creation, or otherwise.

"Ratchet," she called out as she neared the entrance. "Are you there?"

A quiet, groggy groan came from the far left of the room, followed by a disgruntled voice.

"Is it truly too much to ask for a little peace and—you!"

Startled, Arcee spun around quickly whilst transforming her arms into her blasters defensively, pointing them at the equally as startled figure lying up on the repair berth.

"Starscream?" she exclaimed incredulously, wondering how she failed to spot him when she first entered the repair bay. He must've been recharging at first, she reasoned, and woken him up when she'd called out for Ratchet. That at least explained why the repair bay's lights were so dimmed down; lest they prevent the seeker from resting soundly.

She definitely hadn't expected to see him relatively functional, let alone online three days into his repair. She didn't know what to think – either that Ratchet was _that_ good, or that they'd overestimated the extent of the seeker's injuries. Still, a blast to the chest couldn't have healed _that_ fast even with Ratchet's medical expertise.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he asked, struggling to prop himself up on his elbows, while his legs still lay on the berth. Arcee could see that even that small movement caused him to grimace slightly with pain – he definitely wasn't going to get up and walk anytime soon, she reckoned.

"What's it to you?" she retorted, finally lowering her weapons but remaining alert should he make any sudden movement. She knew Ratchet had disabled his weapon systems back out on the field before bringing him into the base, but she could never be too careful.

"_I_ was told I would remain here to rest undisturbed while the rest of you _Autobots_ flitted about minding your own business. _Clearly_ that isn't the case," he complained.

Arcee scoffed.

"Does it look like I'm here to snoop around after your business?"

"What else would you be here for?"

"I'm looking for someone," she stated, turning her head to the floor as if to make certain Miko hadn't been there all along.

"Oh?" he said, with a pensive expression on his face. "Well, it's obvious your medic isn't present at the moment, so you can leave now."

Arcee blinked twice.

_'So _I _can leave now?'_ she thought disbelievingly._ 'Arrogant slagger, who does he think he is?'_

But she refused to get herself riled up in front of him, that was only what he wanted to see.

Taking a deep breath, she returned to the subject at hand.

Starscream had been there all along, hadn't he? If Ratchet wasn't there, then she figured _he_ could've seen Miko run into the room. Maybe that would explain why she could be hiding, especially if she didn't want him to know what she was doing.

_'Could be worth a shot,'_ she sighed.

"Did you see anyone run in here? A human?" Arcee asked, taking a few steps towards him to see if Miko had managed to sneak off to that side of the room before she'd arrived.

He froze as she approached.

"A human – one of your _vermin_, here?" he scowled with disgust, suddenly more alert.

"Yes, or no?" she asked assertively.

"No," he replied curtly, his vocal tone turning dark. "And if you value the lives of your little human pets, you would do well to keep them away."

_'Believe me, I know,'_ she refrained herself from saying.

"Fine. That's all I needed to know," she said, before turning around to leave.

"Wait," he began, causing her to turn her body to the side to look at him. "You mean to say that you came here for no other purpose at all than to ask for the whereabouts of a human?"

"Yes," she replied, puzzled, unsure of what he wanted to hear. "What did you expect?"

It was more a rhetorical question than anything, but it only made him look more wary of her, for whatever reason she didn't know. Well, they were still enemies technically...and in hindsight after all the bad history between them, she couldn't find it in herself to blame him for that.

A short moment passed.

He finally brushed her off, pretending as if he hadn't heard her – or perhaps as if he'd never asked her anything to begin with?

"Never mind," he said, ultimately choosing to lie back down against the berth on his left side facing away from the wall, laying his good wing flat behind him while what was left of his right wing remained tucked closely to his back. "Go on, leave. You've pestered me for long enough."

It wasn't like Arcee to just let someone talk to her like that without getting defensive about it, but frankly she just wanted to get out of there and never speak of it again. Not that it was 'top secret' information or anything, but the fact was that no one needed to know of it.

_'I got what I came for, and no one got hurt. Period.'_

And with that she left without a second look, not wanting to spend any longer than necessary in _there_ with a very irritable seeker – _'Primus help us if we ever have to spend more than five minutes with him'._

Well, all things considered, it could've been much worse, though her own pride had been wounded after finding that Miko was not there – and as a bitter afterthought, all she needed now was for Starscream to run his mouth and out goes the cat from the bag. But surely, he had no reason to do so, after all he wouldn't gain anything out of it (apart from the satisfaction of causing her a bit of misery) – _'Bad history, remember?'_ she reminded herself, shaking her head.

But she didn't dwell on it, it didn't matter to her. All she knew was that she'd wasted her time on a fruitless chase, and that she still needed to find Miko.

**End Chapter Four:**

Well, that's that for that chapter. As always, thanks to those who've reviewed so far, your input is appreciated :) Constructive criticism is welcome. Also, Starscream's clones are adorable. That is all.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **This one's a bit shorter, but I needed to split up what I've got planned otherwise this would've taken too long to get out. Thanks to those who've reviewed and story alerted so far, you guys are awesome! I also wanted to give a special shout out to **Killing Kathy** for endorsing this story – with that said, I would highly recommend reading her story **'Once in a Blue Moon'**, she's got some great 'Starcee' dialogue in there to sate your Starcee appetites :P

And without further ado, I give you chapter five. Hope you enjoy :)

**Chapter Five:**

_Duty could be a cruel mistress._

/\/\/\/\/\

Miko stood in between Raf and Jack, leaning on the rails with a smug expression on her face even as Bumblebee, Optimus and Bulkhead returned to the base via the ground bridge. Arcee on the other hand refused to even acknowledge she was there for the time being, not wanting to admit that after all the trouble she went through, she had been wrong.

Not a minute after she'd returned from the repair bay did she find Miko in the control room chatting to Jack and Raf as if she hadn't disappeared to begin with. 'Total shock' would've been the understatement of the year to describe what Arcee had felt at that moment, not to mention the stunned silence that followed. She was questioned, of course, but even then Arcee knew that she was fighting a losing battle.

She'd been exactly where she'd said she was. To think that Miko, for once, did not run off on a whim..it was hard to believe. She'd of course deduced that Arcee had gone looking for her in the repair bay, to which she'd playfully warned that "Optimus isn't going to be happy" in an annoying sing-song voice.

"I was doing my job – looking out for you," she'd argued, pointing a sharp finger at her.

"I can take care of myself," Miko had said, "But there's still no way I'd risk going in _there_ for anything."

"Oh? Why the change of heart?" Truly, Arcee wanted to know exactly what it took to keep the human girl still and following orders.

"Because frankly, I don't want to get kicked out of the base by the boss-bot," she'd replied. "I could tell he'd totally meant it too when he warned us – I got chills and everything!"

So what Optimus had said to them – to her – finally hit. Even if it was at the expense of her own time and effort gone into looking for her, Arcee was somewhat thankful that she was unlikely to have to go through it again – 'unlikely' being the key word. It was unfortunate that the girl had given herself such a disreputable knack for being unpredictable, otherwise Arcee was sure that they'd have much less trouble being completely trusting of her.

Fifteen minutes later, and Arcee got the call to bring everyone back in for an important team meeting – so there they were.

Bumblebee shook off some loose leaves off his frame as he transformed into his bipedal mode, meeting Bulkhead, Optimus and Arcee near the centre of the room.

"_What did I miss?"_ he asked, noting the silence between them all.

"Nothing yet," Bulkhead replied.

"We are only waiting for Ratchet to arrive at the present moment," Optimus added.

"No need," a voice emerged from the left-hand corridor.

Ratchet casually walked up to join them while he rubbed an energon stained piece of cloth against the plating on his right arm. Well, he was in one piece, the Autobots observed, if not a little worse for wear. Probably was in the midst of something important too, if the fresh energon stains were anything to go by. They were naturally inquisitive, but did not ask anything of it – not _yet_ at least.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologised, "I had other pressing matters to attend to. So, what's this all about?"

They looked to Optimus as he spoke.

"During our mission, we learned of some valuable information that may prove useful to our knowledge."

"What, 'useful' as in it'll help us against the Decepticons 'useful'?" Arcee asked, crossing her arms.

"No, not quite," Optimus replied. "But it may help to prepare us for any upcoming encounters we may face in the near future."

"We're listening," Ratchet said.

Optimus moved towards the main console, pressing some keys which brought up the map of the area he had scouted with Bulkhead on the screen.

"During our scouting round, Bulkhead and I discovered an anomaly located here by the mountainside," he said as he highlighted the area on the map.

"A collapsed energon mine, due to structural instabilities," he continued.

"And as far as we know," Bulkhead added, "Whatever energon is in there is completely blocked off."

"How's _that_ supposed to help us?" Arcee wondered, sharing a confused look with Bumblebee.

"That...wasn't the worst of it," Bulkhead slowly said.

Optimus nodded with a grim expression on his face.

"We have reason to believe that, due to Starscream's demotion from the Decepticon ranks, his position as an officer has been replaced by none other than Airachnid."

Distaste and hatred immediately sprawled up in Arcee at the mention of that name, the energon in her tubes figuratively boiling as she quipped.

"So she finally crawled back to the 'Cons," she said with a scowl. "Why am I not surprised?"

"She must of followed Breakdown after our fight for that polarity gauntlet," Bulkhead explained.

"It doesn't matter," Arcee shook her head. "At least now she'll be easier to track, now that she's back with the 'Cons."

_'And easier to take a shot at,'_ she added as an afterthought.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Optimus placated. "We must not forget the disadvantage this places us in now that Megatron has another skilled and highly _dangerous_ soldier under his command."

Arcee forced herself to maintain a composed expression and tone.

"With all due respect, sir," she started formally, watching as Optimus regarded her with a wise gaze, "Airachnid is far from being a soldier."

Airachnid was an opportunist – a sadistic creature in nature whose sole purpose was to appease her own desire for power. For _control_. It was no wonder that for this reason she bound her victims in a sturdy, sticky binding web before subjecting them to her will – torture, interrogations, psychological trauma, _anything_ that kept her on top of the game; _her_ game.

No, Arcee thought, Airachnid was no soldier; she lacked the honour to be considered as such. It would be insulting to those who fought and died to categorise her kind with them.

_'Soldiers are no _murderers._'_

/\/\/\/\/\

His optics snapped open as a small gasp unwillingly left his vocaliser – to his relief, there was no one in the vicinity to witness the brief lapse in his guard.

He forced himself to breathe evenly, if only to prevent his already damaged systems from overheating. Before long, the warnings in his HUD cleared, returning his vision back to normal.

Starscream sighed finally, pulling against the restraints around his wrists that the Autobot medic 'Ratchet', as he called himself, had placed on him before starting a procedure, a precaution the medic took after Starscream nearly clawed an optic out from him when he was physically able to.

He wanted to smirk at the memory, but the vividness of the dream his processor had created was still clutching at his mind.

But if he was to be completely honest, if only with himself, it was more like a nightmare, remembered not in its entirety but in segments. Segments he would gladly wish to forget. He shut his optics again, willing his mind to clear of the thoughts. It was too often he lived the nightmares he dreamed – or rather, it was too often he dreamt of the nightmares he'd lived through.

It was unfair – _'Even in sleep, I cannot escape Megatron's wrath.'_

And the nightmare once again threatened to push its way up from its forced recession. Glimpses – the memory of pain and fear, both things that he'd become so accustomed to and yet always hated, no matter the situation.

Because where one was present, the other would always be, lurking, crawling and paralysing his systems until his grip on sanity broke once more...

But he shook his head vigorously, willing his thoughts to clear again, determined to concentrate on his present situation and distract himself with what he did best.

He analysed, calculated and concluded, before choosing the most beneficial route that suited him.

It was no secret, he thought, that the Autobot leader believed _he_ owed _them_ something in return for their...what should he call it? Service? Sanctuary? After all, he'd practically waltzed into the repair bay speaking of his terms, his _rules_, expecting them to be followed as if Starscream had signed away the hypothetical deed to his own life to him.

_'That pompous fool, had my weapons been online, I would've blasted that repulsive look off his face.'_

And though he harboured hatred for the Autobots in general, there was none other that he hated more than the Autobot leader Optimus Prime, who on many occasions had attempted to persuade him against following Megatron's authoritarian lead – but _why_ he would attempt to do so even after he'd blatantly rejected him every time (with a complementary missile blast, of course) still continued to baffle him. For every time they encountered each other as enemies, they would leave each other in the same way, if not more wounded.

Starscream found it amusing that it took his near death and almost unresponsive chassis to bring him – unwillingly – into the Autobot base.

_'How's _that_ for loyalty, Megatron?'_ he bitterly remarked.

Yes, he thought, Optimus Prime was certainly a persistent rust-bucket, but that hardly made the minions that followed his every order any more tolerable because of that fact.

The medic was a pain, as he'd discovered in the past few days. The green one was an imbecile, if he could be compared to Breakdown. The blue one was a _femme_, and that in itself was enough to make him scowl. And the yellow one was a bother, with his nosy and resilient nature.

_'Not to mention, their filthy tendency to keep vermin in their midst.'_

Without the ability to contain them either, if his short-lived encounter with the two wheeler was anything to go by.

He grimaced at the memory.

He'd been recharging restlessly at best, with sharp pangs of pain interrupting the potential for deep sleep every so often...it was never something he'd gotten used to. Not even after working for Megatron for so long, and certainly not with his _methods_.

He cringed.

He didn't want to imagine what he might be going through under Megatron's will had he still been under his command on the Nemesis. Ever since that..'incident' at the mine, his existence aboard the ship had been nothing but edgy, fretting constantly over what Megatron might spring up on him next. Not that it was the first time that Megatron had decided to 'teach' him a lesson in that way, no, but there was something.._different_ about it this time. Something in the way that Megatron had _looked_ at him.

He couldn't place it at all, and that frustrated him greatly. He let out a low snarl.

_'All these millennia working for Megatron and still I cannot understand him.'_

Not that it was really his intention to in the first place. But how could he have helped it? He was a scientist before he was an advisor, before he was a strategist, before he was a first lieutenant.

He groaned as a bout of what he could only place as a form of nostalgia hit him like an agonising wave, making him wish his hands were unbound so that he could hold his head if only to soothe the oncoming processor ache.

It was true that he'd hardly had it easy with the Decepticons, but he would take _that_ familiar ground over being with the Autobots any day. He knew _exactly_ what to say to please them at the very least, knew exactly what to do to keep himself alive and useful when he wasn't busy scheming against Megatron. But here? Here his claws itched to do _something_. It was a habit, he couldn't help it. Not when he'd been conditioned to expect pain from being useless.

He could only cringe as he felt a tingle course through his right arm, but a shadow of the memory of the pain of it as it was heated and bent and skewed by larger claws while his optics were wide awake and his vocaliser was screaming agonised pleas and...

No..no, perhaps it was better for him that he was there for the time being – and _only_ for the time being, he concluded as he felt his body locking up in fear. Time would allow things to settle. His anger at his being brought here in the first place had already dispersed. Now? Now he was just bitter. Bitter at everything, at how everything had turned out. He was _supposed_ to be the leader of the Decepticons by now, _supposed _to be leading new Cybertron into a Golden Age, _supposed_ to be restoring his home and fellow Cybertronians to their former glory..things weren't supposed to be like _this_.

He turned his head to see the empty repair bay, with scraps and bits of pieces belonging to him strewn about, as well as repair tools of various description. And for the first time in a long time, he felt his body relax – to a certain degree, that is. Even though the bottom line was that he was a Decepticon in the middle of the Autobot base, he could recognise that he was not in any immediate threat; quite the opposite, he admitted.

Nothing about the place could be described as threatening – it was a _workshop_, like those illustrated in a sparkling's book about Vector Sigma the creator, Starscream mused. It was nothing like Knock Out's almost-torture chamber of a repair bay, a place he _always_ tried to avoid landing in if he could help it.

_'Yes,'_ he thought. _'These Autobots are too soft. Using them to my advantage would only be too easy.'_

As his processor computed various scenarios and outcomes, he laid back against the berth, sighing loudly to himself while he shut his optics, finally allowing himself to drift back into his recharge cycle.

He _would_ use them to his advantage, he decided, before he snuffed each of their sparks and escaped the base. With a more grim thought, he added:

_'Before it is too late.'_

/\/\/\/\/\

Their team meeting had been adjourned for some time now.

Ratchet had gone back to the repair bay, saying something about needing to perform an hour-long operation just to secure several important components near Starscream's spark chamber, and that he was not to be disturbed.

The rest of the Autobots, Arcee included, were given a half-hour long recess before their duties needed to be resumed. As far as she knew, Arcee was still scheduled on ground bridge duty, only this time Bumblebee was to accompany her because he'd completed his scouting duties for the day.

Bulkhead was busy picking branches and other organic matter that'd stuck onto him during his mission off and out of his frame, complaining that the broken branches "tickled" when he moved.

And Optimus had volunteered to recompile the missing section of the database after Arcee had told him of the glitch. She had intentionally kept her mouth sealed about Miko's stunt earlier on though. That was something she didn't want to bring up unless it was absolutely necessary, and since Starscream would no doubt be detained for a good two hours at least, she could only hope that Miko would not blurt out the first thing that came into her head.

She guessed she was lucky with the fact that Miko was probably too preoccupied with her own homework to really remember what had previously occurred. And with their recess at its near end, she was only too grateful that things had gone by without further incident.

Bumblebee was at the ground bridge controls, punching in co-ordinates into the console while Bulkhead stood by Arcee and Optimus, rolling his shoulders to work out the irritable kinks in there.

"So I guess I'll see you guys soon?" he said, concluding their conversation.

Optimus nodded once, "Stay safe, Bulkhead. You know what to do should you encounter any trouble."

He waved off to them, transforming into his vehicle mode and rolling out through the ground bridge.

As it closed, Bumblebee started punching in the co-ordinates for Optimus' destination, but Optimus politely interrupted, "One moment, Bumblebee."

He shrugged, only watching as the Autobot leader turned to Arcee and motioned towards the empty corridor to the left.

"Arcee, a moment of your time?"

She blinked once, her internal systems just about freezing as her processor repeated _'ScrapScrapScrap'_ over and over in her head while her vocaliser automatically uttered a brief "Sure".

_'So, it was too much to ask for this one to slip by?'_ she thought, externally composed however as she stopped moving when she was within the walls of the corridor, though their headquarters was still in sight.

She didn't say anything, and waited for Optimus to start the inevitable conversation – if there was one thing she wasn't going to do, it was admitting to doing something he didn't know about.

Luckily for her, he cut straight to the chase without seeming to notice anything out of the ordinary with her.

"I needed to ask a favour of you," he started plainly.

"Oh?" she vocalised as her mind's frantic processes calmed down. "What's this about?"

"It's..on Ratchet's behalf," he stated quietly.

"Why, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing serious," he placated calmly. "Just, simply an action I believe we must undertake for his benefit."

He was being ambiguous. Too ambiguous. As if he was trying to avoid revealing the matter as much as possible. Perhaps he thought she'd decline if he told her outright? But no, no, his request (though on Ratchet's behalf) was as much an implicated order as any other blatant command was. And if he was coming to her specifically to ask for assistance, then how could she turn him – and through him Ratchet down?

She gave a sidelong look, "So Ratchet doesn't know we're doing..whatever it is we're doing?"

"That is correct. I believe that both you and I know that Ratchet is far too proud a mech to admit needing assistance in this way."

"And that would be..?" she edged on inquisitively.

Naturally, he started off with his usual explanation.

"As we all know, Ratchet has been working as efficiently as possible to complete Starscream's repairs," he sighed. "His dedication to his task has been unwavering, but now..now I fear for his own health."

"Ratchet wouldn't neglect himself for Starscream," Arcee pointed out.

"He is tired, Arcee, and at this rate I have reason to believe he may end up hurting more than just himself. Exhaustion has its ways with bots of all kinds – Ratchet is no exception to this."

She understood what he was saying – that Ratchet could make a costly mistake in his less-than-optimal state, but she would have figured those in Ratchet's line of work would expect such a thing as working on patients for hours on end.

"I'm sure he's been through worse."

"That may be true," Optimus considered, "But I would not want to risk that now and have to regret it later."

Arcee placed her hands on her hips – Optimus would not be swayed, it seemed.

"So, what? You want me to stage an intervention?"

"Not exactly," he admitted. "I have already tried getting Ratchet to leave for the sake of his own maintenance. Unfortunately, I was unable to convince him, not when he insisted that someone remain behind to watch over Starscream."

And there was the catch – _'There's always a catch,'_ Arcee thought to herself. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"So basically, you need me to babysit Starscream while Ratchet is out recharging," she stated rather than asked.

"Yes," he replied truthfully. "Ratchet seemed convinced that it would be detrimental to Starscream's recovery if I were to remain behind and watch him myself."

_'I wonder why that is?'_ Arcee refrained herself from commenting sarcastically. Placing the Autobot leader in a room with the ex-Second in Command of the Decepticons was practically a vicious verbal brawl waiting to happen.

But there was something still bugging her about all this.

"Permission to ask freely, sir?" she spoke respectfully.

He nodded in response.

"Why me?" she questioned curiously. "I'm not saying I won't help Ratchet with this, but Bumblebee and Bulkhead are equally as capable as I am."

"Bumblebee and Bulkhead undoubtedly excel in their own strengths, that I cannot deny," he started. "But for this I need someone who can take responsibility in any situation. And you have proven to be more than capable in the past."

She looked away, thinking to herself. It seemed that no matter what she did, she was always thrown back into that uncomfortable place of having to choose between saying something out of duty and saying something because she wanted to. Of course she wanted to help Ratchet, but in this way? She could barely stand Starscream for the brief minute or two she was with him earlier in the day, but to spend a good part of the night in the same room as him was asking for trouble – _and_ a processor ache, to top it off.

But she knew she couldn't refuse, not really. It seemed that the Autobot code that'd been drilled into her during her training had stuck with her as it was intended to. It wasn't that she had to undertake the task because she was ordered to, but because a fellow Autobot was simply in need of help.

"_Autobots don't turn away their own,"_ her first commanding officer had said. 'Brothers and sisters in arms' he'd called them. _"And no one turns their back on family."_

She sighed lightly out loud, and looked back up to Optimus without any doubt in her tone.

"I won't let you down."

**End Chapter Five:**

I wanted to point out that the next two chapters are going to be BIG, at least according to the outline I've got. I may disappear for a while, but know that I'm still writing this story. As always, constructive criticism is welcome, and your reviews make me happy. Like, really happy :D See y'all in the next chapter! Peace out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Setting Note:** In case it needs clarification, the repair bay referenced here is not the one in the main area of the original base. It's intended to be a more secluded, personal one that I believed Ratchet had due to an observation error when I first started writing the story.

**A/N:** So it's been a long time. For those interested, an explanation follows. This chapter wasn't expected to be so difficult to write, but as I found myself starting to write the original version a year ago, I realised how awfully cheesy and filler-like it was. It wasn't fun for me to write, and direction-wise it was heading nowhere fast – needless to say, my muse fizzled out for a time. Long story short however, I have _not_ given up on this story. Over the year-long gap, this chapter alone had over five different variations, all accumulating in a word count of over 11,000 words of unused lines, paragraphs and possible narrative direction.

For those who are new to this story, welcome! For the oldies who go way back, thank-you for sticking around. For those who've reviewed or alerted or favourited so far, your support and feedback mean so much. I apologise if I've missed replying to anyone over the gap. Consider this chapter as a new slate :)

On a final note, I am up to date with the third season – the most recent episode, 'Evolution' (no spoilers ahead), makes me wonder why the writers don't keep to their deliciously sinister Starscream instead of giving us a rather redundant character (in terms of his role with the 'Cons). At times, it's just a bit disheartening to see such a rich character become the shows' comedic scapegoat.

Regardless, I hope I got this chapter right – I shall let you guys be the judge of that :)

**Chapter Six:**

_So an Autobot soldier and a pissed off Decepticon walk into a bar.._

/\/\/\/\/\ Two hours later – Optimus had returned, and both he and Arcee are making their way to Ratchet's repair bay. /\/\/\/\/\

It was like she and Optimus had walked into a war zone of an entirely different kind, where instead of shots and parts flying in the air, there were words and curses buzzing around them. But their arrival was clearly welcome by at least one of the two occupants in the room – they seemed to have walked in at the right moment too, close to the aftermath of the heated moment.

There was a dead silence as their presence was noticed, and both doctor and patient stopped to a standstill at the disturbance. The former had a look of restraint on his features, trying desperately to control himself from continuing his verbal brawl with his patient, who was staring him down with a death-like glower in his optics.

Arcee didn't miss seeing the wide clamp stretching across the seeker's chest, practically welding him down to his berth.

"Ratchet?" Optimus started warily, "Is everything all right?"

"Ah, Optimus," Ratchet exclaimed finally, his voice wearing thin despite his attempt to hide that fact. "I..was wondering when you'd visit."

His cover-up was obvious; Ratchet had never been good at hiding the truth, no matter how harmless it was. Starscream scoffed at his poor attempt to deflect the inevitable question from his superior.

"Yes, just in time to witness another one of your medic's ridiculous attempts to subdue me further!"

He sounded almost hysterical to them, his voice a higher pitch than usual, lacking its devious undertone they were used to hearing whenever he was calm. Now, it seemed his temper had been riled by something that, apparently, Ratchet had done.

"Subdue you? Oh, please," Ratchet argued exasperatedly, "If you'd only listened to my advice to _stop moving_ so much, then I wouldn't have had to resort to such methods!"

"I'd like to see you suffer three solar cycles without movement," he retorted venomously, struggling firmly against the clamp holding his body down, which was (from Arcee's perspective) doing a great job at keeping the seeker immobile, at least where his injuries were concerned. "Is this really how I am to be treated, Prime?"

Arcee chanced a look up at Optimus to see his reaction, but he took no notice of her as he addressed the irritated captive.

"I believe it would be in your best interests to heed Ratchet's advice next time, if you do not wish to be placed in such a confining predicament." He gestured his head towards Ratchet for support. "I am certain you were warned."

Ratchet nodded vehemently. "A hundred times over! But would he listen?"

Arcee blinked surprisingly, half unexpected at Optimus' response.

_'I'm glad to see he isn't taking any scrap from Starscream,'_ she thought proudly, turning her attention to the seeker to see his response.

"You cannot keep a seeker like this," he hissed, the sentiment of a defeated mech. He had to know there was no way of winning this fight two against one. "Surely you know that."

Arcee finally piped up, sick of his antics as she was, "Maybe you should've thought about that before disobeying his warnings."

Starscream darted his optics towards her.

"This doesn't concern you, two-wheeler," he said snappishly.

"And yet she is right," Optimus chimed in. "I will trust Ratchet's judgement on this matter, but know that this consequence is of your own doing. I am certain it can as easily be revoked should Ratchet deem your behaviour improved."

"I'll..consider it," the medic agreed to unwillingly.

The seeker remained silent and brooding from where he lay, outnumbered by all who were against him.

"As for you, Ratchet," Optimus finally addressed, coming to the reason for his unannounced visit, "I believe that in consideration of the current state of things, I am forced to bring up our previous conversation into light once more."

"I don't think now is a very good time, Optimus."

"That is why I wish to discuss it elsewhere – Arcee will take over in your absence," he clarified, answering Ratchet's unasked question.

"I'll keep an eye on things till you get back," she stated briefly, flicking her gaze to the leering seeker in the background.

Ratchet seemed none-too-happy about it.

"Hey, don't go blowing a gasket on me or anything. This is just a one-off thing," she clarified.

"That is an order, old friend," he stated seriously.

Ratchet's eyes darted to Arcee, then Optimus, then Starscream, and then landed back to Optimus once more, obviously contemplating something to himself.

Finally, he huffed frustratedly.

"Sometimes, I just don't understand you Optimus. Firstly, I'm put in a position where I must constantly attend to a patient, and _then_ you nag me for doing my job."

Optimus replied in a quiet tone, just loud enough for the three of them to hear, "I know it seems counter-productive to your progress, but I need you to trust me for now, and even more importantly trust in Arcee to handle things in your absence."

Ratchet looked to her for assurance, still hesitant to leave his post

"Trust me, I can take care of this," she said conclusively, leaving no room for Ratchet to doubt her.

The medic shut his optics, placing a hand to his head as he thought it over to himself, before emitting a hopeless, disgruntled sigh.

"Just...make sure he doesn't move too much," Ratchet uttered in a hushed manner, making sure Starscream was well out of hearing range to catch on to it.

She nodded once.

"If there's nothing else..?" Ratchet trailed off to Optimus, who merely gave Arcee a final look of acknowledgement before turning to lead Ratchet away to who knows where, just away from the confines of his own repair bay.

"Wait, what is the meaning of this?" the neglected seeker called out from the back.

Ratchet didn't answer, but turned to give Arcee a look.

_'Good luck,'_ it said. _'He's your problem now.'_

In that one moment, her resolve faltered for a fraction of a second, a range of emotions flashing in her optics too quickly for any observer to fully conceive – and then just as easily as it did, she put on a confident slanted smile and looked straight at him, leaving him no room to doubt her.

_'I can handle this, with or without luck.'_

And just like that, he and Optimus were gone, out of sight behind the closed doors.

"They can't be serious.." Starscream uttered more to himself than anyone else, though Arcee could hear him clearly enough. "Of all the Autobot filth to choose from, they pick _this_ one.."

She almost did a double take at the brashness of his words, stunned enough as she was by the boldness of his statement.

_'What the frag is _that_ supposed to mean?'_ she internally thought, narrowing her eyes at him dangerously. Regardless of whether or not she was supposed to hear them, or whether they were just the by-product of his particularly foul mood, she wouldn't stand for having to put up with that kind of disrespect towards her and her teammates.

She regarded him with a cold indifference on the outside, but seethed on the inside with solid animosity.

"Watch your tone, Decepticon," she said stiffly, "I'm not in the mood to pick a fight, but if you say that again, I can't guarantee you'll leave this night unharmed."

"Oh, my mistake. Did I say that out loud?" he said with a mockingly innocent expression. "And here I thought your medic was intolerable."

_'Right, so that's how he wants to do this,'_ she thought unenthusiastically, having the feeling that Starscream wasn't planning on sitting this one out, so to speak. _'Two can play at this game.'_

"Glad to hear Ratchet's giving you a hard time," she commented, trying to turn the topic against him. "Remind me to tell him how much you love his little talks."

He scoffed from his side of the room, and turned his head to look at her.

"That was hardly a compliment, Autobot," he retorted, "And your attempt at humour is not appreciated."

She crossed her arms across her chest, "What makes you think I was joking? In fact, as soon as my shift is up, I'm going to suggest having the clamp in place for good."

He gave her a scowl at her threat.

"Autobot-"

"And then, who knows?" she interrupted, suddenly enjoying the way she was making him squirm at the thought of a permanent lockdown, "Maybe when you're fit enough to be moved, I'll have him place a pair of stasis cuffs on your wrists.."

"You wouldn't-"

"Or better yet," she interjected, "I'll have him clamp your wings off for good."

He uttered a low guttural growl at this, visibly defeated down a notch. It appeared that for all he was willing to put in to appear tough, he wasn't prepared to risk losing the freedom of his wings, however temporary.

"Fine, you've made your point," he hissed..._"Infernal harpy,"_ he added under his breath.

But the thought of being restrained only seemed to remind him of his body's own condition that it was in, and in turn made his wrists and ankles and chassis itch as the metal of his armour chafed uncomfortably against the material of his restraints.

Out of the habit he'd become accustomed to in the past three days, his wrists began to pull against his bonds in attempt to free himself from them, but with almost zero movement space between them and his limbs, the only thing he could manage was a dull 'clink' as both materials collided with each other. His ankles soon followed suit, and soon enough the sound became obvious enough that Arcee started to pick up on it, to his dismay.

Though her own temper had calmed since she'd made her threats (regardless of whether there was any truth behind them), she wasn't in any way planning on letting her current lead over him falter. From where she was leaning against the wall, she could see that Starscream was starting to struggle with being as still as he was. Vaguely, she remembered Ratchet's words to her before he left.

"_Just make sure he doesn't move too much."_

She sighed out loud, deciding it best to intervene now before it got out of hand. The last thing she wanted to do was end up calling in Ratchet because she wasn't quick enough to prevent the seeker from tearing open a recently repaired energon line.

"Hey, stop moving," Arcee told him as she watched him curiously out of the corner of her vision. "You'll only make things worse."

He tugged hard at the restraint at one of his wrists, but it didn't budge.

"That's easy for you to say," he scowled. "You're not the one who's been bound to a berth for three solar cycles!"

"You'll reopen your wounds again," she tried convincing him from her place, though she was physically preparing to approach him and stop him herself if he wouldn't listen.

"Would you believe me if I said I've suffered through worse?" he retorted, though his casual way of saying it made it difficult to believe whether he was telling the truth or not. His tone didn't suggest that he was after any pity, that she could tell, but even despite the knowledge that he'd served under Megatron for however many millennia, she found it hard to believe that he could've suffered much worse than a near-fatal blast to his chest.

"No," she said, "But I can tell you your 'worst' yet will be facing Ratchet after all his work comes undone. Now stop moving."

He stubbornly gave his restraints one last aggressive tug to prove his point before settling down.

"You Autobots obviously have no idea what you're doing."

She sighed, returning to her semi-relaxed position.

"Tell it to someone who cares."

"Like whom, your medic?" he jeered. "If he wasn't too preoccupied with finding ways to bind me down further, then perhaps he'd find a scrap to give – seekers need their space, you know!"

He continued out loud, "Instead, here I am, bound by every servo with an unimaginable crick in my wings I have no power to do anything about!"

As if to prove his point, he tried shifting his wings up and down along the berth, but all they produced was an audio-piercing shriek from the intact one as it scraped along his resting place, and a wince-inducing groan from the broken one as the damaged and cauterised struts and cables pulled tightly with the movement.

He said to himself in an unnaturally high octave, "Not to mention an unbearable processor ache."

Arcee vented out a breath, somewhat unsure of what to think or say as she watched the seeker mull over something to himself, and for once did wonder what he was thinking about. She thought that anything that made him look _that_ miserable might be worth knowing, if only for reference.

"Sounds like a bad excuse as any to give you some freedom. You really think any of us are going to fall for it?"

He blinked rapidly, "You think I'm joking?"

"You don't hear me laughing, do you?" she pointed out bluntly.

He caught onto her implication.

"You think I'm lying," he stated rhetorically, with a peeved look crossing his face, though she couldn't decide whether his question was directed at her in particular, or the rest of her team in general. It didn't matter to her either way.

He took her silence as an affirmative.

"I may find it easy to excuse the ignorance of a common soldier on this matter," he started, worming his way into dangerous territory again, "But I refuse to accept that your _medic_ is also oblivious to it too."

She refrained from rolling her optics.

"Look, I'm not going to say it again," she groaned out, "If it bothers you so much, take it up with Ratchet. _He's_ in charge of you, and despite what you might think, he's _trying_ to help you."

_'Not like you care,'_ she thought to herself, trying to keep as much of her exasperation in check.

"And what good would _that_ do? I utter any semblance of the word 'freedom', and suddenly I find myself in..in.." he tried gesturing sharply with whatever he could move towards the clamp stretched across his chest.

This time, she couldn't help but let out an audible sigh.

"Then I suggest you try getting on his good side," she replied curtly, hoping he wouldn't have much more to say, "But even then, I wouldn't get my hopes up."

"And just _how_ would one go about accomplishing such a feat?" he questioned curiously, though his voice was laced thickly with doubt.

"For you?" she answered back with little hesitation, "You could start by shutting up and doing as you're told."

His features shifted to form a sharp leer; he was obviously unhappy with her answer. Though in her defence (and now retrospect) it was probably the most honest bit of advice she could give him, however accidental and spur-of-the-moment it was.

"So we're back to our hostilities, are we?"

She crossed her arms across her chest, watching him warily.

"Funny, I wasn't aware we'd left them."

He didn't say anything in reply, but his expression suggested that he'd heard and understood her just fine. She remained unresponsive herself, wanting to prolong the quietness for as long as she could.

But it was an uncomfortable silence, the kind that seemed to drag on when all of Arcee's senses were focused on the tenseness of the air around them, so much that she felt like she could cut the very particles with her blades and they would visibly part before her. Though the potency of it eventually died down with time, she still couldn't help but reflect on all that was said. As far as threats went, she figured that Starscream's were empty if not nullified by the fact he was still bound and helpless on the berth. It might have also had something to do with the way he was outnumbered five to one in the base.

And as for her own? Well..

She knew she had as much input on Starscream's treatment as any of the others did. Sure, she could spout a thing or two to keep him in line, but deep down she knew that any authority over his immediate treatment lay with Ratchet alone.

_'On the plus side,'_ she thought to herself with a sly smile, _'_He _doesn't have to know that.'_

The quiet stretched on for hours more. Ratchet still hadn't come back, which meant that Optimus had successfully persuaded him to retire for the night; she expected he'd be back within two or three more hours at most to relieve her of her night shift. Starscream had long since fallen silent and into recharge – she'd say it would have been about four or five hours ago that his breathing had become slow and even, but even that would eventually hitch every so often.

It wasn't until her internal chronometer suggested that six hours had passed since the beginning of her shift that she heard the seeker's breath hitch again, this time a little more raspy than she'd heard before. She ignored it as usual, however, learning early on that they were just the product of whatever dreams he was having, though judging by the odd winces he displayed even in his sleep, she would've hazarded a guess they were more like nightmares instead.

_'He'll settle down in a bit,'_ she reminded herself, returning to her task of checking the functions and statuses of her secondary systems, a habit she'd adopted to pass the time.

But just as soon as she'd settled back into her routine check, she heard his breath hitch again, albeit a bit more loudly, and heard him shift uncomfortably on the berth. Without warning, one of his wrists jerked upwards in a quick motion, pulling harshly against its restraint.

Though it didn't get far, Arcee's optics snapped towards the sound and hovered over the restraints in particular, wondering with uncertainty just how much force they could take. The seeker stirred in his sleep again, this time pulling uselessly with his ankles – but he could never get his knees to bend acutely enough to dislodge the bonds. His efforts were weak, stifled by not only his own lack of energy but also the restrictions placed on his mobility range by Ratchet.

Arcee let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding.

_'Glad Ratchet knows what he's doing,'_ she thought reminiscently, _'That Decepticon moves too much for his own good.'_

And then without any visible indication, his left shoulder slammed upwards into the clamp with a strength Arcee wouldn't have matched to his condition, so suddenly that by the time Arcee realised the severity of his movements, the left side of the clamp had become unhinged from the berth as a result of his efforts.

"Scrap!" she swore out loud, jumping to her feet as she realised he was bracing his body for an attempt at the other side of the clamp, no doubt in hopes of removing the metal restraint from across his body for good. Though still bound by his limbs, the freedom granted to him by breaking the clamp seemed to calm him slightly, enough for her to see him relax for a brief second and intake a surge of cool air into his body. Smaller plates around his waist and along his sides shifted automatically to compensate for the new movement space. His chest expanded and the left side of his back relaxed more comfortably across the berth – it was akin to a human stretching, relieving their joints and muscles from a constricting ache.

It was then she took her move.

Leaping in close when he was at his weakest, she pushed both her hands down on his free shoulder to prevent him from getting any kinetic momentum over his other shoulder – with some effort, he shoved her hands from him roughly and snapped back into an aggressive mode.

"'Injured', my tailpipe.." she mocked crudely, heedlessly slamming one hand down on his left shoulder again, whilst her other hand reached to the other in attempt to stabilise him.

_'Was it too much to ask for this one thing to go smoothly?'_

But of all the things she noticed was that his optics were still sealed shut, and his expression was locked into a troubled cringe that no amount of his physical resistance was helping. She was close enough to hear that his once-audible hitching breaths had become faint ragged gasps, and that his hands (however bound) were shaking with an odd twitch every now and then.

It hit her with alarming clarity.

_'He's..still dreaming,'_ she realised incredulously.

She finally pushed back even harder than before when his resistance faltered for a second, and forced his shoulders down on the berth with a dull _'thud'._

_'For a mech to struggle like that, there's no way he's as injured as Ratchet believes he is.'_

It was something that got under her external armour, so to speak. Not that she was a qualified medic (and far from it), but she assumed that Ratchet did whatever daily check-ups he needed to on Starscream. So how the _frag_ could he misjudge the extent of his patient's injuries? And then she took into account the restraints around his limbs, and then the larger (now dented) clamp across his chest. At first she thought they were just to keep him in place, to stop him from opening old wounds. And maybe, _maybe_ that was still the case. But _then_, then there was this notion, nagging at the back of her mind...

_'Scrap,'_ she swore, still holding the Seeker down, waiting until his strength wavered.

What if he _wasn't_ as injured as he was made out to be, and Ratchet knew it? By default, that would mean that Optimus knew it too. She didn't want to process the implications of it, nor think of how much it clicked together when she thought about it like this. The secrecy of it, kept between both medic and leader for three solar cycles – the lack of news, updates, a solid plan that _everyone_ was filled in on. Was their knowledge – hers', Bulkhead's and Bumblebee's – of the goings-on behind the scenes really detrimental to the overall plan, whatever that might be? Had they already been thrown out of the loop not even a week into it all?

She shook her head and let out a frustrated cry.

_'This isn't the damned time to get caught up in this,'_ she berated herself, but made a note to herself to come back to it _after_ this was over. She was going to get some answers around here, classified information or not.

Her frustration had built up to a degree, and Starscream was still relentlessly pushing back with no indication of whether he was going to stop or wake up from his efforts. She'd had about enough of him for one night.

"Damn it, Starscream, snap out of it!"

Without hesitating, she took her right hand and gave him a swift but firm hit to his face, watching him as he blinked rapidly and raggedly vented air in and out of him, seemingly coming to his senses. She felt his shoulders suddenly relax, dropping from her grasp as he regained control of his limbs.

"Scrap," she swore out loud again, more out of relief than anything else.

She backed off to give the both of them some space while she assessed the damage. She herself was unharmed, and Starscream looked physically worn but was otherwise fine. The berth on the other hand had taken some damage. Not only were there scratches around the area from where his claw-like fingers were resting, but the clamp that had once kept him firmly bound to the berth was dislodged on one side and bent upwards slightly from where he'd pushed against it, which rendered _that_ thing useless.

She figured Starscream's vitals had returned to their normal state by then.

"What the _frag_ was that about?" she asked, a little out of sorts herself though she tried desperately to hide it.

After a moment, she didn't think it mattered anyway. Starscream looked as if he was still out of it – she would've gone so far as to say she may as well have been non-existent to him at that moment. When he lay there, unresponsive to her, she shook her head and approached him once more, reaching towards the bent clamp.

She figured at the very least she could try to hook the damned piece of scrap underneath the berth to keep Starscream down, after knowing she'd have to report whatever the _pit_ went on just then to Ratchet when he returned. No doubt she'd have _some_ explaining to do for it all. She reached to grab the end of the metal piece and started to force it back down.

Her proximity, and more importantly to the seeker what she was doing, finally seemed to snap him back to reality. Instinctively his body resisted, and he struggled to prevent her from locking him down to the berth again.

"No, wait!" he protested, his breath raspy with hysterical desperation, "Don't put the clamp back on, it isn't necessary!"

Despite her better judgement, she paused her actions, and almost immediately the seeker stopped resisting. His body was still tense in anticipation of another attempt to bind him, and he was naturally trying to turn his body away from her out of wariness. His countenance expressed both weariness and an anxious distrust of her movements. And oddly, after all the strength he displayed physically during his unconsciousness, he seemed rather weak in his protests now, lacking the strength in his struggles that he'd shown just moments before.

_'Either he's drained himself of energon, or some thing's not right,'_ she pondered distrustfully.

"Why should I listen to you?" she asked.

"I told you to stop, and you did," he pointed out snarkily, but when he saw that she wasn't in the mood to put up with his ill-mannered comments, and knowing that she could and _would _put the clamp back on without a care, he changed his tone.

"I-I mean, there is no reason _not_ to listen, is there ?"

She opened her mouth to retort, but he interrupted her before she could, realising she could say a thousand things and more against him.

"Wait, don't answer that.." he said sheepishly, struggling to find words – words that wouldn't end him up in that _accursed_ clamp again.

"What I _mean_ to say is that..I'm already bound by _these_ restraints, as constricting as they are," he started, pulling lightly at his wrists and ankles to prove his point. "I can barely move as it is – I assure you that..that _thing_ will only make matters worse."

Arcee didn't even blink.

_'Really, he's going for the 'pity' speech? And here I thought I'd heard everything for one night.'_

"Nice try, Starscream, but that's not going to work on me."

Her second approach made him panic a little more, realising that his desperation may not have been communicated quite clearly enough.

"No, no wait!" he pleaded again, thinking quickly on the spot. "I'll-I'll stay still, I swear it!"

She gave him a look.

"I don't believe you."

She took a step forward, and he shifted himself away from her again – or at least, he _tried_ to within the already limited amount of movement space he had.

"Don't make this difficult," she said, placing her hands on her hips. When he remained as still as a mech in stasis, she sighed hopelessly. She had a feeling that it would be more trouble than it was worth in trying to get Starscream to cooperate with her – he seemed to _really _hate that clamp with a passion.

"Look, chances are that Ratchet was going to end up removing the thing any way," she tried to persuade, though even she would admit that she wasn't that great with her words.

The seeker's determined glare wavered for a second.

"If he comes back and sees you out of it, what do you think he's going to do instead?"

He tilted his head to the side, something of a distrustful look tugging at his features.

"The medic wouldn't remove it," he said with skepticism.

She shrugged, "You heard him before. He said he'd consider it."

"That doesn't justify your supposition," he countered without skipping a beat.

She gave him a deadpanned look.

_'I'm not in the mood to do this,'_ she decided, feeling that arguing with him would only take them in circles. There were too many questions of what, whys and hows, and to top it off, no one believed the other to begin with. It was a disaster in the making, and she refused to play a part in its nonsensicalness.

"You know what, fine. Have it your way," she conceded, backing off entirely. "Just don't say no one told you so when you find yourself locked to your berth again."

He looked hesitant, as if there was an inner conflict going on with himself. But his very stubborn if not persistent nature seemed to win whatever argument he had going on – in any case it didn't matter to Arcee. To be honest with herself, she didn't know why she even _tried_ to offer him some advice to begin with. In the end she just blamed it on her own exhaustion and consoled herself with the knowledge that she'd be relieved of her shift very soon.

"I'll take my chances," he conclusively uttered, finally relaxing his frame along the berth once he believed she wasn't going to make another attempt to bind him.

_'Take as many as you need, genius,'_ she sarcastically thought. _'Looks like you're not going anywhere.'_

With his immediate dilemma out of the way, she supposed the next thing she _had_ to do was wait for Ratchet to show up. Though with a series of questions she felt needed answering soon, she wanted nothing more than to leave and have some time alone to herself, and maybe, _maybe_ talk things over with the others before making the decision to take things up with Optimus or Ratchet. She wanted to take the time to review things – to make _sure_ that she wasn't simply overreacting.

She needed a distraction.

Maybe an energon raid, maybe a minuscule task. Just something to take her mind off of things before she dived head-first into the fray. Something, she hoped, that would make her feel as if they were achieving something useful for their team.

_'A cart-load of raw energon would be great right about now,'_ she thought hopefully, glancing over to where the seeker lay.

It was hard to idealise that their hopes for winning and surviving this war any time soon lay in whatever information _he_ could give them.

Somehow, someway, she just hoped that they would do _something_ right to make him pull through in the end.

**End Chapter Six:**

That's that, folks! It took a while, but it got through in the end. In reference to **DemonSurfer**, this story _is_ taking a lot longer than I'd intended myself, but over time I think I've come to accept this as more of a character study based on a scenario, rather than a purely plot-driven story. As a result, the word count of each chapter seems to magically escalate to unintended proportions.

In any case, I've taken to leaving progress messages on my profile – if you don't see an update in the near-future, that would be the first place to check. See you guys in the next chapter :) Over and out!


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